Successful treatment of coronary artery perforation during angioplasty using a new membrane-coated stent

We report a case of successful treatment of coronary artery perforation and cardiac tamponade, which developed during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, with a PTFE-coated stent. Intravascular ultrasound was first used to overcome the shortcomings of conventional angiography and overlapping of a conventional stent was not as effective as coated-stent placement in sealing a further leakage. Thus, PTFE-coated stents may be an effective alternative to emergency surgery or autologous venous covered stenting and should be considered when coronary artery perforation occurs.