Thrombotic occlusion of a drug-eluting stent - is IVUS mandatory

Acute stent thrombosis is a rare but serious complication of stent implantation. Although anecdotal reports suggest that the use of drug-eluting stents (DES) may increase the risk of stent thrombosis, this has not been borne out in randomized, controlled trials. We report a case of acute stent thrombosis following implantation of a DES, with review of the literature. Despite the initial favorable procedural result, the patient developed stent thrombosis 7 days later; intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) demonstrated incomplete deployment of the stent. We recommend the use of IVUS in the management of acute stent thrombosis in order to exclude incomplete stent expansion which may underlie acute thrombotic occlusion.     

Sirolimus-eluting stent implantation outside a previous stent

With device improvements, more total occlusions have been crossed with a guidewire and balloon. However, true intraluminal/intrastent passage is not always accessed, which is not apparent on coronary angiography. In this study, using intravascular ultrasound as well as computed tomography, we demonstrated a crushed stent previously implanted outside the sirolimus-eluting stent, which resulted from subintimal (outside the stent) passage of a guidewire.     

Very late stent fracture associated with a sirolimus-eluting stent

Late stent thrombosis (>1 year after implantation) is a recognised complication involving drug-eluting stents. Stent fracture is increasingly being reported as a complication of drug-eluting stent, and in particular sirolimus-eluting stent use. We report the case of very late sirolimus-eluting stent fracture resulting in an acute coronary syndrome. This case report highlights the need for greater awareness and post-marketing surveillance to detect a potential mechanism for late stent thrombosis in the drug-eluting stent era.     

Fibrinolytic therapy for very late stent thrombosis—is it a viable option?

Stent thrombosis (ST) has a very high case fatality and morbidity rates. The risk of very late ST is significantly increased with drug-eluting stents (DES) compared to bare-metal stents for at least up to 4 years. Discontinuation of clopidogrel therapy is the single most important consistently identified risk factor. Immediate reperfusion, preferably by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), has been considered the therapy of choice. Compared to de novo ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), myocardial infarction (MI) related to ST has significantly higher major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and lower reperfusion rates. Due to the significantly higher mortality associated with STEMI due to ST, prompt revascularization assumes paramount significance. Our case reflects the potential utility of fibrinolytic therapy for STEMI due to very late ST. Systemic fibrinolysis should be considered for ST in the presence of ongoing significant ischemia and unavailability of prompt PCI.     

Embolization of a Wiktor stent within a stent: Successful nonsurgical management

A case of embolization of an unexpanded Wiktor stent while attempting to traverse an expanded Wiktor stent is reported. The embolized stent was subjected to longitudinal axial traction, using a balloon catheter to cause stretching and partial unraveling. This partially unraveled stent was deployed across the dissection to scaffold it. The patient had no postprocedure complications. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Overlapping hybrid stenting with a sirolimus-eluting stent and a bare metal stent

We report a case of a 51-year-old man with transient mid-ventricular ballooning cardiomyopathy. Left ventriculography demonstrated mid-ventricular ballooning and akinesis with hypercontractile apical and basal segments. Iodine-123-beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-penta-decanoic acid myocardial scintigraphy showed decreased uptake in the mid-ventricle, corresponding to the mid-ventricular akinetic region. This is the first report of a transient mid-ventricular ballooning cardiomyopathy observed by not only left ventriculography but myocardial scintigraphy.     

Early stent occlusion is not always caused by thrombosis

Early occlusion of intracoronary stents has been exclusively attributed to thrombosis. Using intracoronary angioscopy, we have found 2 patients in whom this common and serious complication of coronary stenting was caused by obstructive intima dissection rather than thrombosis. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Late stent thrombosis after implantation of a sirolimus-eluting stent.

Late stent thrombosis in the era of routine high-pressure stent deployment and combined antiplatelet therapy with thienopyridines and aspirin has become a rare but feared complication. We describe a patient with acute myocardial infarction due to late stent thrombosis 6 weeks after deployment of a sirolimus-eluting stent and 2 weeks after the discontinuation of clopidogrel. This is the first report of late thrombosis of a sirolimus-eluting stent.