Evaluation by Optical Coherence Tomography of Neointimal Coverage of Sirolimus-Eluting Stent Three Months After Implantation

Confirming complete neointimal coverage after implantation of a drug-eluting stent is clinically important because incomplete stent coverage is responsible for late thrombosis and sudden cardiac death. Optical coherence tomography is a high-resolution (≈10 μm) imaging technique capable of detecting a thin layer of neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) inside a sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and stent malapposition. This investigation evaluated stent exposure and malapposition 3 months after SES implantation using optical coherence tomography in a different clinical presentations, such as acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and non-ACS. Motorized optical coherence tomographic pullback (1 mm/s) was performed at 3-month follow-up to examine consecutive implanted 31 SESs in 21 lesions in 21 patients (9 with ACS and 12 with non-ACS). NIH thickness inside each strut and percent NIH area in each cross section were measured. In total, 4,516 struts in 567-mm single-stented segments were analyzed. Overall, NIH thickness and percent NIH area were 29 ± 41 μm and 10 ± 4%, respectively. Rates of exposed struts and exposed struts with malapposition were 15% and 6%, respectively. These were more frequent in patients with ACS than in those with non-ACS (18% vs 13%, p <0.0001; 8% vs 5%, p <0.005, respectively). In conclusion, neointimal coverage over a SES at 3-month follow-up is incomplete in ACS and non-ACS. Our study suggests that dual antiplatelet therapy might be continued >3 months after SES implantation.