THE AVE MICRO CORONARY STENT AS A BAILOUT DEVICE

Vessel closure following percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplast y (PTCA) remains an important source of morbidity and mortality. In th is study we have evaluated the AVE Micro stent in the management of th e bailout situation following angioplasty. All patients with abrupt ve ssel closure or threatened abrupt vessel closure managed with this dev ice were included in the study population. Between January 1995 and Ja nuary 1996, 86 consecutive patients with abrupt or threatened abrupt v essel closure following PTCA were managed with the AVE Micro coronary stent. Fifty-seven patients were male, the mean age was 60 years (rang e 32-76). Three patients had acute myocardial infarction and 58 had un stable angina. Six bad a left ventricular ejection fraction of less th an 30%. A total of 109 stents were implanted in 86 patients. There was one procedural failure. One patient died following emergency CABG. Em ergency CABG was required in an additional two cases, both had a signi ficant rise in CK (MB). Non-Q-wave myocardial infarction occurred in a n additional five patients (6%). Subacute stent thrombosis occurred in six cases (7%). Major vascular complications occurred in three patien ts (4%), necessitating surgical repair of the femoral artery in two. S ixty-one patients (72%) had a 30 day event-free survival. The mean dur ation of hospital admission was 7 days (range 4-30 days). In conclusio n, the AVE Micro coronary stent is an effective device in the manageme nt of abrupt and threatened abrupt vessel closure following PTCA. Its use is associated with a high procedural success rate and a relatively low complication rate.