SURGICAL REMOVAL OF STENT ENTRAPPED IN PROXIMAL LEFT CORONARY-ARTERY SYSTEM

Coronary artery stents were developed to prevent acute coronary closur e and reduce restenosis after coronary angioplasty. A well-recognized, although uncommon, complication of stent deployment is loss of contro l, resulting in the stent being inadvertently deployed in an undesirab le location. This case study describes a patient who underwent stent i nsertion to the left anterior descending artery and had stent entrapme nt in the left anterior descending/left main coronary artery. The sten t was surgically removed, preventing unnecessary bypass grafting to a normal circumflex artery.