Abbott has enrolled its first patient in the evaluation of XIENCE PRIME/XIENCE V versus coronary artery bypass surgery for the effectiveness of left main eervascularization (EXCEL) trial.

The global prospective multicentre randomised EXCEL trial will enrol more than 2,600 patients to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the XIENCE PRIME/XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent Systems, compared to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

The primary endpoint includes composite measure of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke at a median follow-up duration of three years, with all randomised patients having reached a minimum of two years’ follow-up.

The EXCEL trial will also evaluate ‘unprotected’ patients with left main disease who have not received grafts to these arteries to determine whether coronary stenting can be an alternative to bypass surgery in these patients.

Principal investigator of the study Gregg Stone said EXCEL will examine the differences between stenting and surgery in a select patient population.