Repair of saphenous vein perforation with covered stent during angioplasty

Coronary perforation or rupture is an infrequent complication of angioplast y which may have a poor prognosis and influence patient survival. Cardiac t amponade or the presence of ischemia leading to acute myocardial infarction may require emergency cardiac surgery. Surgical treatment of perforation o r rupture of the coronary arteries is based on prolonged inflation with ang ioplasty balloons or autoperfusion. There are few studies on the placement of covered stents to seal the perforation. We present the case of a patient who presented saphenous vein graft rupture following high pressure stent i mplantation requiring percutaneous placement of a covered stent.