Longitudinal Stent Elongation: A Rare Complication of Third-Generation Drug-eluting Stent Platform

Abstract

Abstract Longitudinal stent deformation (LSD) is an infrequent complication of percutaneous coronary intervention. While the occurrence of gross LSD is a rare phenomenon, minor changes in length are common and have been recognized as accepted behavior of stents during implantation. Due to the proximity of the guide catheter, ostial or ostio-proximal lesions are prone to stent deformation either by the guide or other devices during navigation. Moreover, to satisfy the fractal geometry of coronary bifurcation, the proximal optimization technique is commonly performed during different bifurcation procedures, which can subject the stent to extreme overexpansion resulting in structural deformation. We describe two cases of longitudinal stent elongation during ostial deployment and try to analyze the factors behind this rare, yet complicated behavior of the latest-generation drug-eluting stent.