Intracoronary loss of balloon-mounted stents: successful retrieval with a 2 mm-"Microsnare"-device

Intracoronary loss of balloon-mounted stents prior to deployment is a rare event but may result in clinically relevant cardiac ischemia or peripheral embolization during rescue attempts. In a consecutive series of nearly 400 patients undergoing elective stenting, we encountered six instances of intracoronary misplacement. We describe four cases of successful percutaneous retrieval using a 2 mm closed loop nitinol device ("Microsnare"). Our proposed method of extraction seems to hold advantages over those previously described.