Background: Loss of side-branch vessels is a serious complication following stent implantation in parent vessels of bifurcation lesions. The purpose of this study was to introduce and test a new stent design for the protection of side-branch vessels in the management of bifurcation lesions.
Methods and materials: This stent has multiple radio-opaque markers in its central portion, whose presence is useful in avoiding stent-strut placement across the side-branch orifice and in correctly directing the insertion of a second guide wire through the struts into the side branch to minimize jailing of side branches during stent deployment in the parent vessel. In vitro tests of the acrylic resin bifurcation phantom model were performed under fluoroscopic guidance in the catheterization laboratory with 10 stents with multiple radio-opaque markers and 10 stents without. Kissing balloon angioplasty was performed across the side branch after stent implantation in the parent vessel in both groups. Side-branch jailing by the stent (presence of any stent struts crossing the side-branch orifice) was determined visually and compared between the two groups.
Results: The jailed side branch with the stent struts was observed in one of 10 new stents and in five of 10 conventional stents without them.
Conclusions: The in vitro tests demonstrated the superiority of a new stent design for the reduction of side-branch jailing in bifurcation lesions.
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