Our experience with Palmaz-Schatz coronary stent.

Between September 1993 and August 1994 we have implanted Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents in 44 patients. Twenty eight patients presented with stable angina and 16 with unstable angina. Stenting was carried out for denovo, focal lesions in large coronary arteries (n = 27), significant dissection during PTCA with acute threatened closure (n = 9), suboptimal results (n = 5), restenosis after PTCA (n = 2) and saphenous vein graft stenosis (n = 1). Successful delivery of the stent was achieved in 43 cases. Percent diameter stenosis was reduced from 77 +/- 11% to 10 +/- 8% and minimal luminal diameter increased from 1.08 +/- 0.28 mm to 2.92 +/- 0.39 mm. There was 1 death due to left main dissection secondary to guiding catheter trauma in a patient taken up for bail out stenting. Vascular/bleeding complications occurred in 3 patients (6.7%). There was no instance of acute or subacute stent thrombosis. Forty patients are symptom free. Eighteen patients underwent six month angiography. Restenosis (> 50% diameter reduction) was seen in 2 and a new lesion distal to stent occurred in 1 case. All have been successfully redilated. A high rate of successful delivery of the Palmaz-Schatz coronary stent can be achieved in a wide spectrum of patients with very few complications. Long term results are very gratifying and encouraging.