TEMPORAL COURSE AND FEATURES OF RESTENOSI S FOLLOWING CORONARY STENT IMPLANTATION IN ASYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS

Following coronary Palmaz-Schatz single stent implantation 50 patients had an angiographic follow-up after 4-6 and after 12 months. Quantita tive angiography revealed that the restenosis process has finished 4-6 months after stent implantation in the majority of patients. In the p resent study, 6% had, however, developed symptomatic restenosis at 1-y ear follow-up. Detailed assessment of 15 patients revealed that the re sidual stenosis after stent implantation is most prominent at the sten t edges, however, restenosis did occur in all segments in about the sa me amount. Analysis of several clinical and morphologic variables did not reveal any particular risk factor for the development of restenosi s. The results of the present study do suggest that follow-up angiogra phy should be performed 4-6 months after stent placement.