A polymer-free biolimus A9-coated stent (PF-BCS; BioFreedom™, Biosensors Interventional Technologies, Singapore) can elute the drug even without a polymer by retaining on rough surface of wall (1). Here we present case late neointimal regression 1–5 years after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We performed PCI for severe stenosis proximal right artery and implanted PF-BCS. The thicknes...

T he long-term vascular response to coronary stenting can involve transformation of an otherwise benign neo-intima to one that resembles de novo atherosclerosis in an unstented vessel. The neointima may be infiltrated by foamy macrophages, undergo neovascularization, and develop unstable thin-cap fibroatheromas (TCFA) that contribute to neointimal disruption and thrombus formation in situ, simi...

Monotherapy drug-eluting stents (DES) suppress neointimal proliferation and reduce the 1-year target lesion revascularization rate better than bare-metal stents but have other issues about safety and efficacy. Inadequate endothelial strut coverage causes stent thrombosis requiring stringent dual-antiplatelet therapy. Late catch-up with cumulative increase in the target lesion revascularization ...

Previous research from our group has demonstrated arsenic trioxide eluting stents significantly reduced neointimal area and thickness compared with bare metal stents. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effects of arsenic trioxide in vitro and arsenic trioxide eluting stents in a porcine coronary model have been explored. Sixty-five pigs underwent placement of 139 oversized stents in th...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the biological effect of microengineered stent grooves (MSG) on early strut healing in humans by performing optical coherence tomography (OCT) analysis 3 weeks following the implantation. BACKGROUND In the experimental setting, MSG accelerate endothelial cell migration and reduce neointimal proliferation compared with bare metal stent (BMS). METHODS A total of 37 patie...

BACKGROUND The main pathology of haemodialysis graft stenosis is venous neointimal hyperplasia at graft-venous anastomoses. Neointimal hyperplasia is also observed in cases of coronary artery in-stent restenosis. Paclitaxel is a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat cancer, and has been proven to inhibit neointimal hyperplasia of coronary artery in-stent restenosis. In this study, we examined wh...

BACKGROUND Restenosis after stenting occurs secondary to the accumulation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and extracellular matrix (ECM), with the ECM accounting for >50% of the neointimal volume. The composition of the in-stent ECM has not been well characterized in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS Postmortem human coronary arteries (n=45) containing stents underwent histological assessment of neoi...

BACKGROUND Late vascular responses after implantation of drug-eluting stents may play a key role in steadily increasing occurrence of very late stent thrombosis have not yet been fully investigated in human beings. METHODS AND RESULTS Serial optical coherence tomography observations at 2 and 4 years were collected for 17 patients treated with 21 sirolimus-eluting stents. Corresponding 376 cro...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the relationship between post-stent strut apposition and follow-up strut coverage using contour plot optical coherence tomographic analysis. BACKGROUND Tracking the fate of interested regions of struts at different time points has not been investigated. METHODS Post-intervention and 6-month follow-up optical coherence tomographic evaluations were per...

BACKGROUND Intimal hyperplasia and subsequent in-stent restenosis remain a major limitation after stent implantation. In vitro cell culture studies show that low-frequency, noncavitational ultrasound energy may impact smooth muscle cell proliferation. Accordingly, we assessed the efficacy of intravascular sonotherapy treatment on intimal hyperplasia in a swine stent model. METHODS AND RESULTS...