Direct Coronary Stenting in Noncomplex and Noncalcified Lesions: Immediate and Mid-term Results of a Prospective Registry

Stenting of coronary arteries is currently used in clinical practice. The aim of this prospective registry was to assess the feasibility and the safety of stent implantation without balloon predilatation in noncomplex and noncalcifed lesions. One hundred six stents were implanted in 85 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of native vessels (n = 95) or bypass grafts (n = 11). The lesions were type A (21%) or B1 (79%). The stent was a tubular or a coil stent in 71 ± and 29% of the cases, respectively. The angiographic success rate was 94%. The maximal pressure was 12.1 ± 2.1 atm. In only 7 cases, it was not possible to cross the stenosis with the stent, necessitating retrieval of it and predilation with a balloon before stent implantation. Three dissections after stent implantation were treated by a second stent implantation. The primary success rate was 98% (no acute closure or myocardial infarction). A clinical follow-up was obtained in 98% of patients with a mean delay of 6 ± 0.5 months. Eighty-one percent of patients were asymptomatic. The target lesion revascularization rate was 9.4%. Four patients underwent a new PTCA and four patients a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This technique of stent implantation appears to be safe with good immediate and midterm results. A prospective randomized trial comparing this technique to the standard technique of stent delivery in noncomplex lesions is currently ongoing with an intravascular ultrasound substudy.