Long-term outcomes of minor plaque prolapsed within stents documented with intravascular ultrasound

The direct relationship between minor plaque prolapsed within stents and late in-stent restenosis is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of minor plaque prolapse on late angiographic in-stent restenosis. Intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS)-guided single-coronary stenting was successfully performed on 384 consecutive patients with 407 native coronary lesions. Six-month follow-up angiographic evaluation was performed on 315 patients (82.0%) with 334 lesions (82.1%). Minor plaque prolapsed within the stent was found in 75 of 334 lesions (22.5%). Results were evaluated using angiographic and IVUS methods. The development of minor plaque prolapse was significantly associated with infarct-related artery (P = 0.000) and small pre-intervention minimal lumen diameter (P = 0.001). The overall angiographic restenosis rate was 23.1% (77/334)-21.3% (16/75) in the lesions with plaque prolapse vs. 23.6% (61/259) in the lesions without plaque prolapse (P = 0.806). In conclusion, minor plaque prolapsed within stents might not be associated with late angiographic in-stent restenosis. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.