Comparison of chronic-stage histopathological findings among 3 coronary stents implanted in the same patient.

A 73-year-old woman suffering from anterior thoracic pain on exertion presented to our hospital. We performed coronary angiography and noted three stenotic legions in each coronary artery. For each angiographic finding, we implanted a bare metal stent (BMS), sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) into the right coronary artery, left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary arteries, respectively. Nine months later, she died of lung disease, and we could compare the histopathological findings among the three coronary stents. In the drug-eluting stents, very thin intima, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and fibrin deposition were observed, while thick intima and no inflammatory findings were observed in the BMS. Fibrin deposition was more marked in the PES than in the SES. This report shows marked differences in the subsequent pathological course among three stents in the same patient.