COMPARISON OF THE SHEATH DELIVERY SYSTEM VERSUS BARE STENTING FOR CORONARY STENT IMPLANTATION

Outside the United States, Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents are implanted by hand-crimping the stent to a high pressure balloon without the use of a protective sheath. This lowers the delivery profile, increases t he ease of deployment, and ensures that the postdilatation balloon is centered on the stent. To assess this bare stenting technique, 209 pat ients were retrospectively analyzed: 92 patients (107 lesions) with th e sheath protected stent delivery system (SDS) and 117 patients (150 l esions) with the bare stent approach. The number of balloons used per lesion in the bare stent group was significantly less than in the SDS group (1.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 3.8 +/- 1.2, P < 0.0001). In addition, the proc edure time in the bare stent group was significantly shorter than in t he SDS group (106 +/- 55 vs. 134 +/- 60 min, P = 0.001). There was no difference in frequency of adverse events or stent displacement during the procedure. The bare stenting technique decreases the procedure ti me, reduces the number of balloons used, and is as safe as the SDS app roach. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.