Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Introduction: Although stents have improved the safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions, coronary stent thrombosis remains a serious complication.
Case presentation: We present the case of a 64-year-old Caucasian man from Greece, with symptoms and electrocardiographic findings suggestive of acute inferior myocardial infarction, who complained of chest pain and rapidly developed cardiogenic shock 48 hours after primary percutaneous coronary intervention.
Conclusion: The most common cause of early bare-metal stent thrombosis is stent malapposition. Intravascular ultrasound is the preferred method to recognize predictors of coronary events that are not detected by angiography.
Introduction
Stents have improved the safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) by reducing acute or imminent vessel closure and by reducing restenosis rates compared with conventional balloon angioplasty. In addition, coronary vasomotor reactivity has been found intact after stent implantation and long-term clinical and angiographic follow-up have attested to the durability of their action. Nevertheless, coronary stent thrombosis remains a serious complication of PCI.