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Failure to retrieve undeployed paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents
Marco Roffi1, Thomas F Luscher, Gabor Sutsch
1Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. marco.roffi@usz.ch
The American Journal of Cardiology
|February 8, 2006
Summary
Undeployed Taxus drug-eluting stents showed a 1.5% retrieval difficulty rate, higher than other stents. Severe vessel tortuosity and calcification were associated with these Taxus stent retrieval complications.
Area of Science:
- Interventional Cardiology
- Medical Device Engineering
Background:
- Retrieving undeployed coronary stents can be challenging.
- Paclitaxel-eluting stents (Taxus) have been associated with retrieval difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency of damaged or lost undeployed coronary stents.
- To investigate factors associated with retrieval complications for Taxus stents.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 1,415 percutaneous coronary interventions.
- Comparison of retrieval complication rates for Cypher, Taxus, and bare metal stents.
Main Results:
- The incidence of retrieval complications was 0% for Cypher, 1.5% for Taxus, and 0.3% for bare metal stents (p = 0.0007).
- In 11 cases involving Taxus stents, severe vessel tortuosity and/or calcification were noted.
- Stent embolization occurred in 6 of these Taxus stent cases, with one leading to chronic claudication and another requiring urgent surgical removal.
Conclusions:
- Taxus drug-eluting stents have a higher incidence of retrieval complications compared to Cypher and bare metal stents.
- Severely tortuous and calcified vessels are associated with increased risk of Taxus stent retrieval failure and embolization.
