Optical coherence tomography images of bell-shaped appearance in late sirolimus-eluting stent restenosis with extension of previous incomplete stent apposition

SummaryLate adverse events including late stent thrombosis and late catch-up phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention have been a serious clinical problem in the drug-eluting stent era. Recently, peri-stent contrast staining, namely extension of incomplete stent apposition was reported following drug-eluting stent implantation. Here, we report a case of late incomplete stent apposition with late stent restenosis 3 years after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation. We evaluated this restenotic site by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Though IVUS demonstrated irregular structure within stent at the stenotic site, OCT detected unusual bell-shaped image of late stent restenosis with extension of incomplete stent apposition.