MULTICENTER EVALUATION OF THE STRECKER TANTALUM STENT FOR ACUTE CORONARY-OCCLUSION AFTER ANGIOPLASTY

The Strecker stent is a balloon-expandable, flexible endoprosthesis co nstructed of knitted tantalum wire and has been implanted successfully in peripheral arteries. This study presents the first multicenter exp erience with implantation of this radiopaque device in the coronary ar teries in 64 patients of 6591 consecutive percutaneous transluminal co ronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA) procedures complicated by abrupt clo sure. In all except I patient the stents (n = 72) were correctly place d, and flow could be reestablished immediately. During hospitalization 12 (19%) patients had stent closures; 5 (8%) patients had Q-wave myoc ardial infarctions; and 13 (20%) patients underwent bypass surgery (4 on an emergency basis). The in-hospital mortality was 9%: 2 patients d ied after thrombotic stent occlusions; 2 patients had fatal bleeding c omplications; and 2 patients died after bypass surgery. Major bleeding complications at the puncture site were observed in 8 (12.5%) patient s. Angiograms (n = 45) after 17 +/- 5 weeks revealed a stent patency r ate of 89%. Thus the Strecker coronary stent proved to be helpful in t he management of acute vessel closure during PTCA. However, in this fi rst series a high incidence of early thrombotic occlusions and bleedin g complications warrants close anticoagulation monitoring and limits b roader indications.