Clinical experience with the S-Flex coronary stent.
OBJECTIVE
Restenosis and the risk of sub-acute thrombosis still compromise the advantages of coronary stenting. This report aims to present a clinical audit of the first 100 patients to receive the South African-developed 'low injury' S-Flex coronary stent at Groote Schuur Hospital.


METHODS
From September 1999 to March 2001, 102 patients received one or more S-Flex stents. There were no special criteria for the use of the S-Flex and the stents were used routinely with stents from other manufacturers. Procedural and patient demographic information was obtained through a retrospective examination of patient records. All but two patients were followed up through clinical interview or telephone contact six months or more after the procedure. The primary endpoint was clinical restenosis, defined as angiographic restenosis (> 50% diameter narrowing), or recurrence of significant symptoms of ischaemic heart disease or target lesion revascularisation (TLR) after discharge from the hospital, unless shown angiographically that the S-Flex was not implicated.


RESULTS
Device success was achieved in all cases. There were five cases of in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including the deaths of two patients who had initially presented with cardiogenic shock. The six-month MACE rate was 7.9%, the six-month TLR rate was 3.0% and the total six-month mortality was 4.0%. The clinical restenosis rate after six months was 7.1% and the total event-free survival (i.e. survival without MACE or clinical restenosis) at six months was 86.1%.


CONCLUSIONS
The S-Flex stent has a low clinical restenosis rate in a non-selective population undergoing stenting for coronary artery disease.
Levetan
Basil N
BN
Cardiac Clinic, Groote Schuur Hospital, and Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
Park
Kenneth S
KS
Conway
Damian J
DJ
Dessai
Anusha
A
D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015607:Stents