title: Morphologic characteristics of late stent malapposition after drug-eluting stents implantation by optical coherence tomography follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Late stent malapposition was frequently observed after DES implantation, which has been associated with the occurrence of late stent thrombosis due to poor neointimal coverage. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency of late stent malapposition at least 1 year after different DESs implantation by optical coherence tomography (OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Angiographic and OCT examinations were given to 68 patients who had received total 126 various DESs implantation for at least 1 year to detect late stent malapposition. Malapposed strut distance (MSD), malapposed strut area (MSA), reference lumen area (RLA) and reference stent area (RSA) were checked with off-line OCT analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 26 Cypher Select stents, 15 Taxus Liberte stents, 51 Partner stents and 34 Firebird I stents were examined. Among 68 patients who underwent DES implantation, 7 patients (10.3%) had late malapposition. Average RSA, MSA and MSD were (7.9 +/- 2.8) mm(2),(2.0 +/- 1.6) mm(2) and (590 +/- 270) microm respectively. According to the MSA/RSA ratio, 4 patients had slight malapposition, 2 patients had moderate malapposition and 1 patient had severe malapposition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late stent malapposition is detected frequently after implantation of DES, but if this predisposes to late stent thrombosis and requires any specific therapy needs to be further elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Key Laboratories of Education Ministry for Myocardial Ischemia Mechanism and Treatment, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, China.
authors.forename: Jing-bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Hui-min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li-jia
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ling-bo
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Zhi-gang
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*