Successful bypass restenting across the struts of an occluded subintimal stent in chronic total occlusion using a

Hidefumi Ohya1, Eisho Kyo, Osamu Katoh

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Kusatsu Heart Center, Shiga, Japan.

Insights

Subintimal angioplasty for coronary total occlusions (CTO) can lead to in-stent restenosis. Bypass restenting using a retrograde approach successfully restored blood flow in two challenging cases.

Area of Science:

  • Interventional Cardiology
  • Vascular Medicine
  • Cardiovascular Interventions

Background:

  • Subintimal angioplasty is a bailout strategy for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in chronic total occlusions (CTOs).
  • Long-term outcomes and re-entry challenges limit subintimal angioplasty.
  • Occlusive in-stent restenosis within a subintimal stent presents a complex clinical scenario.

Observation:

  • Two cases of occlusive in-stent restenosis in the right coronary artery (RCA) following subintimal stent placement for CTO are presented.
  • The restenosis occurred within a stent previously implanted in the subintimal space.

Findings:

  • Successful treatment was achieved using bypass restenting across the struts of the occluded subintimal stent.
  • A retrograde approach enabled wire crossing through the occluded segment and re-entry into the stent.
  • The reverse CART technique followed by multiple restents restored antegrade flow, confirmed by follow-up angiography.

Implications:

  • This retrograde bypass restenting technique offers a viable solution for managing complex in-stent restenosis after subintimal angioplasty.
  • It addresses the limitations of uncertain re-entry points associated with subintimal techniques.
  • Demonstrates a novel strategy to restore patency in previously treated CTOs with challenging restenosis.

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