Kenya Nasu

A 70-year-old female was admitted to our hospital due to claudication of the left leg. The patient was diagnosed with peripheral artery disease and received endovascular therapy (EVT) with a stent implanted in the right common iliac artery (CIA) at another hospital 3 months earlier. The left CIA was jailed by the stent. We performed EVT for the chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the jailed left CIA. A kissing-stent strategy was selected because the strut could not be fully opened. The wire was crossed through the stent strut, since passing the wire outside of the stent was problematic. A balloon was dilated at the stent strut and further inserted while dilated in order to create a space between the implanted stent and opposite aorta wall. Finally, a wire was successfully crossed outside of the stent in this space. A balloon-expandable stent was implanted at the aorta to left CIA in order to perform the kissing-stent technique. Additionally, a self-expandable stent was deployed at the left external iliac artery. To facilitate kissing-stent technique for a jailed CIA CTO lesion, inserting the balloon while inflated at the bifurcation was useful to create space for advancing the guidewire along the stent.

Although retrograde approach for coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) has been introduced, the procedure is still time and resource consuming. A simplified antegrade approach mightbe another resort. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new device designed to facilitate guidewire re-entry into the true lumen of a CTO from the adjacent subintimal space. Patients with CTO were entered into a prospective registry regardless of lesion characteristics. A new metal-tip catheter was used initially in primary use cases. If it created subintimal tracking, a new re-entry tool (a flat balloon with 2 exit ports offset by 180 degrees) was used as a platform to attempt guidewire penetration into the distal true lumen. In rescue use cases after unsuccessful conventional wiring, the re-entry procedure was subsequently attempted. In 11 CTO lesions attempted, device success was achieved in 8 cases (72.7%). Re-entry procedure success rate was higher in primary use cases (80%) compared to rescue use cases (33.3%). Retrograde approach was conducted immediately after unsuccessful antegrade procedure using this device in the other 3 cases and successful recanalization was achieved in all cases. All lesions were stented, resulting in TIMI 3 flow without major complications. A new coronary re-entry device may provide another strategic option in the antegrade approach to recanalize CTOs.

Background—: Frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) is a novel, high resolution intravascular imaging modality. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a widely used conventional imaging modality for achieving optimal stent deployment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of FD-OCT guidance for coronary stent implantation compared with IVUS guidance. Methods and Results—: A total of 70 patients with de novo coronary artery lesions and either unstable or stable angina pectoris were enrolled in this randomized study (optical coherence tomography [OCT] group: n=35, IVUS group: n=35). In the OCT group, stent implantation was performed under FD-OCT guidance alone and final stent expansion was evaluated by IVUS. In the IVUS group, conventional IVUS guidance was used and final stent apposition was evaluated by FD-OCT. There were no significant differences regarding the procedural, fluoroscopy time, and contrast volume. Although device and clinical success rates also were similar, the visibility of vessel border was significantly lower in the OCT group ( P P P P =0.34). Conclusions—: FD-OCT guidance for stent implantation was associated with smaller stent expansion and more frequent significant residual reference segment stenosis compared with conventional IVUS guidance.