Angiographic restenosis after myocardial bridge stenting

Data on restenosis after stent implantation in myocardial bridges (MB) are very limited. Six-month angiographic results for 12 symptomatic patients who underwent stent implantation for myocardial bridges were compared retrospectively with those of 39 patients who underwent direct stent implantation for de novo atherosclerotic lesions in the left anterior descending artery. Diameter stenosis decreased from 69 +/- 8% to 4 +/- 5% in the MB group and from 79 +/- 8% to 7 +/- 6% in the control group after stent deployment. Systolic narrowing was abolished in all patients with MB. In follow-up, quantitative angiography revealed late loss of 1.8 +/- 1.3 mm in the MB group and 0.9 +/- 0.9 mm in the control group (P = 0.025). The in-stent restenosis rate was also higher in the MB group compared to the control group (67% versus 28%; P = 0.037). Despite favorable immediate results, stent implantation in MBs may not be promising because of the higher in-stent restenosis rate compared to stenting in de novo atherosclerotic lesions.