Potential Mechanisms of In-stent Neointimal Atherosclerotic Plaque Formation

Percutaneous coronary intervention has become the main revascularization strategy for coronary artery disease. Compared with early percutaneous coronary angioplasty and the extensive clinical application of bare metal stents, drug-eluting stents can significantly reduce the stenosis caused by the elastic retraction of plaque and neoatherosclerosis (NA), but there is still a high incidence of in-stent restenosis (ISR), which restricts the clinical efficacy of stent implantation. In-stent neoatherosclerosis (ISNA), defined as atherosclerotic lesions in the neointima, is one of the main causes of late stent failure. ISNA plays an important role in stent thrombosis and ISR. The rate of target lesion revascularization and in-stent thrombosis is high when NA arises. Therefore, it is of great clinical significance to explore the occurrence of NA and its development mechanism after stent implantation to prevent ISR and improve stent implantation efficacy and associated clinical prognosis. In this article, we systematically reviewed the existing clinical research on ISNA and the role of optical coherence tomography in its evaluation.