title: Preliminary experience with the V-flex plus coronary stent: immediate and one-month clinical outcome.
abstract: Procedural and 1-month outcome data following implantation of the V-Flex Plus stent in our first 54 consecutive patients (35 male; mean age, 62 years) are described. Sixty-four stents were implanted for 60 mainly complex lesions; 48% were left anterior descending; 20%, circumflex; 27%, right coronary artery; and 5%, saphenous vein graft. The Indication for stenting was elective in half of the patients and for a suboptimal result or as a bailout procedure in the other half. The stents were deployed at a mean of 12 atm (range, 6-18) and postdilatated to a mean of 15 atm (range, 8-20). Pre- and postdilatation balloon sizes were 2.96 +/- 0.57 mm and 3.16 +/- 0.34 mm, respectively. The procedural success rate was 98%. There were no deaths or Q-wave myocardial infarctions. One patient suffered a non-Q-wave myocardial infarction and another developed a femoral false aneurysm. At 1-month follow-up, there were no additional events, in particular no revascularization procedures. Eighty-nine percent of patients were free of angina. Implantation of the V-Flex Plus stent is safe and effective with an excellent early success rate comparable to that of published randomized trials and registries of carefully selected patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Rhydwen
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Ruygrok
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ormiston
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Shaughnessy
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000628:therapy; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome