Excimer Laser With and Without Contrast for the Management of Under-Expanded Stents

Under-expanded and under-deployed stents carry a high risk of restenosis and thrombosis, with inherent serious clinical complications. The management of under-expanded stents is a difficult clinical entity.

A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on all under-expanded, under-deployed stents that were managed by excimer laser, with and without contrast, performed at the Freeman Hospital, a large tertiary cardiac center, in the northeast of England.

Between November 2014 and September 2016, a total of 19 cases were treated with excimer laser with or without contrast, with the initial approach done without contrast. All cases were successful with a stepwise energy-level approach. There were no clinical, procedural, or in-hospital complications, with full expansion of the stents after laser application.

The use of excimer laser with or without contrast offers a safe and effective method for managing under-expanded and under-deployed stents and potentially avoiding long-term complications of under-expansion.