Rationale and design of the TAXUS Libertē Post-Approval Study: examination of patients receiving the TAXUS Liberté stent with concomitant prasugrel therapy in routine interventional cardiology practice.

Background Observational studies of new coronary stents are necessary to assess performance in a variety of complex patient and lesion types. Furthermore, the optimal dose and duration of thienopyridine treatment is unclear, particularly in patients with complex clinical conditions. The TAXUS Liberte Post-Approval Study is designed to provide 5-year data on the TAXUS Liberte paclitaxel-eluting stent with concomitant prasugrel therapy in routine clinical practice and to contribute data to the DAPT study. Study Design The TAXUS Liberte Post-Approval Study is a prospective, multicenter, observational study. Enrollment of approximately 4,200 patients receiving >= 1 TAXUS Liberte stents is planned. All patients without a contraindication will be prescribed prasugrel plus aspirin for 1 year. The 12-month primary end point of cardiac death or myocardial infarction in on-label stent patients will be compared with historical TAXUS Express stent data from the TAXUS ATLAS and TAXUS ARRIVE studies. Secondary clinical end points include stent thrombosis, all-cause death, stroke, revascularization, and bleeding in all patients. In addition, this study will be the first to evaluate prasugrel use in a routine practice setting (including 5 and 10 mg daily doses) and will contribute data to the DAPT Study, comparing 12 versus 30 months of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent placement. Summary The TAXUS Liberte Post-Approval Study will be the first to provide long-term real-world data on use of the TAXUS Liberte Stent with prasugrel treatment. The study is currently enrolling, and primary end point data are expected in mid 2013. (Am Heart J 2012;163:142-148.e6.)