Use of an intracoronary stent to control intrapericardial bleeding during coronary artery rupture complicating coronary angioplasty.

Coronary artery rupture is a rare complication of percutaneous transvenous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) usually requiring urgent cardiac surgery and often resulting in a poor outcome including death. We report, for the first time, the use of an intracoronary stent to control intrapericardial bleeding following the development of a coronary artery rupture during PTCA. Cardiac surgery was avoided and the patient was discharged well 1 week after the procedure.