Pa. Gurbel et al., PERCUTANEOUS REVASCULARIZATION OF AN EXTENSIVELY DISEASED SAPHENOUS-VEIN BYPASS GRAFT WITH A SAPHENOUS VEIN-COVERED PALMAZ STENT, Catheterization and cardiovascular diagnosis, 40(1), 1997, pp. 75-78
A 68-year-old man developed unstable angina 12 years following coronar
y artery bypass surgery. Angiography revealed an extensive area of sev
ere stenosis and diminished distal flow in a right coronary artery vei
n bypass graft. Given the high distal embolism rate associated with co
nventional catheter-based treatment of old degenerated vein grafts, th
e diseased area was ''relined'' with a composite autologous saphenous
vein-covered stent. The procedure was performed using modifications of
standard PTCA methods and resulted in a widely patent, smooth lumen.
This Initial case demonstrates that a degenerated saphenous vein graft
can be successfully revascularized with an autologous saphenous vein-
covered stent in an attempt to minimize the potential complications of
standard catheter-based revascularization methods. (C) 1997 Wiley-Lis
s, Inc.