Optical coherence tomography assessment of early stent strut coverage in patients treated with a thin-strut bare cobalt-chromium stent coated with silicon carbide

摘要

Although coronary stenting has significantly improved procedural and long-term outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), these procedures are still associated with significant rates of restenosis and thrombosis [1,2]. Although early stent thrombosis is mainly related to technical aspects of the procedure, many studies have shown that late and very late thrombosis after bare metal stent (BMS) or drug eluting stent (DES) implantation may be related to incomplete endothelialisation and uncovered stent struts [3,4]. The PRO-Kinetic (Biotronik, Bulach, Switzerland) cobalt-chromium stent is a new generation stent with thin struts (60 um) and a passive coating. These features may reduce restenosis rates as compared to old thick-strut stainless-steel BMS and facilitate faster healing processes. This latter feature is obtained with PROBIO~R, which is an amorphous, hydrogen-rich, phosphorous-doped silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) coating considered to be biologically inert and proven to induce less inflammation and thrombogenicity when used as stent coating [5].