Serial intravascular ultrasound predictors of restenosis at the margins of Palmaz-Schatz stents.

To evaluate predictors of restenosis at margins of Palmaz-Schatz stents, intravascular ultrasound studies were performed after intervention and at follow-up (5.4 months) in 161 stented lesions. Of 301 stent margins, 77 (26%) were restenotic at follow-up (>50% late lumen loss). Intimal hyperplasia was greater for restenotic than for nonrestenotic stents margins. The dominant periprocedural predictor of stent margin restenosis was the plaque burden of the continuous reference segment.