Improved technique for use of half-stents remounted on a stent delivery system

The use of half-length intracoronary Johnson & Johnson stents has been described in a number of settings. Half-stents are useful for very short lesions, avoidance of bifurcations or side-branches, ostial stenosis, covering gaps between adjacent stents, and for dissection adjacent to stents caused by postdilatation. Previously described methods for use of half-stents have involved bare stents, or significant manipulation of either the stent or the delivery sheath for remounted half-stents. We describe a method for half-stent preparation and delivery that does not involve distortion of the stent or the delivery sheath. The risk of stent loss, as can occur with bare stents, is diminished. The geometry of the stent is preserved since it is not expanded and then recrimped, and the end of the delivery sheath is not flared or distorted, which may interfere with stent delivery.