Relation between stent expansion and arterial remodeling: a serial intravascular ultrasound study

Previous studies suggested that stent area (SA) did not change after the Palmaz-Schatz stent implantation. Whether these findings apply to other types of stent, however, is unknown. This study assessed vascular response to stent implantation using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) studies. Serial (pre-intervention to follow-up) IVUS imagings were used to study 57 native coronary lesions after the GFX stent or the Multilink stent implantation. The vessel area (VA) at lesion site increased at follow-up (16.92 +/- 3.67 mm(2) after intervention to 18.17 +/- 4.66 mm(2) at follow-up, P < 0.01). The SA also increased from 8.39 +/- 1.90 mm(2) after intervention to 8.80 +/- 2.08 mm(2) at follow-up (P = 0.02). Thirty-two percent of lesions showed late stent expansion. The stent expansion [Delta (after intervention to follow-up) SA] correlated significantly with the VA growth [Delta (after intervention to follow-up) VA] (r = 0.59, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, some lesions reveal late stent expansion after both the GFX stent and the Multilink stent implantation. Adaptive vessel remodeling may be followed by stent expansion.