Early Onset of Acute Lower Limb Drug-eluting Stent Infection

The present case describes acute and early infection of a superficial femoral artery drug-eluting stent (DES) in a 65-year-old patient 2 days after its implantation in outpatient clinic, with intense clinical presentation. The initial indication was Rutherford 3 peripheral artery disease. Radical treatment by means of stent explantation and femoro-femoral bypass using autogenous vein was performed. Both stent and blood cultures were positive for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Informative imaging and intraoperative view are provided. Local evolution was satisfactory but endocarditis occurred secondarily. The pathophysiology of this first reported DES infection and the management of the infected vessel are discussed, in light of data derived from coronary literature and open vascular surgery.