The effect of intravascular ultrasound usage for the implantation of drug-eluting stent on the rate of acute thrombosis and restenosis

Objective: Major setbacks with the use of stents, whichare widely used in the treatment of coronary artery disease,are development of acute thrombosis during earlyterm and restenosis during the long term. No procedureshave been able to completely prevent formation of earlystent thrombosis (ST) and in-stent restenosis (ISR) up tonow. The aim of the present study was to investigate theimpact of intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) guidanceon angiographic outcomes of drug eluting stent (DES) implantation.Methods: In this study, we included 23 patients who receivedDES with the guidance of IVUS and 23 patientsreceiving the DES without IVUS. The patients were scrutinizedfor their sixth month control angiographies. Theangiographic results were compared between the groups.Results: The basic angiographic and clinical featureswere similar between the groups (p>0.05). The minimalluminal diameter after the percutaneous intervention washigher in Group I than Group 2 (3.2±0.3. 2.9±0.4, p=0.03).Acute ST, late lumen loss and stent restenosis rates werecomparable between the groups (p>0.05). On the otherhand, among the patients that did not receive IVUS threepatients were presented with stent restenosis (SR) andone patient developed acute ST.Conclusion: The present results indicate that the use ofIVUS for the implantation of DES can increase the successrate of the intervention. Consequently, IVUS can beconsidered as a complementary method during DES implantation.J Clin Exp Invest 2013; 4 (1): 84-89Key words: Drug eluting stent, intravascular ultrasonography,percutaneous coronary intervention