Bare metal stent restenosis is benign clinical entity in Japanese patients.

: Recently, several studies have showed that bare metal stent (BMS) restenosis is not a benign clinical entity. However, clinical presentation of BMS restenosis in Japanese patients has not been fully evaluated. Follow-up coronary angiography after BMS implantation was performed in 473 patients with 523 lesions. Of these, BMS restenosis was observed in 167 lesions (31.9%). Clinical presentation of BMS restenosis was classified into 4 categories: 1) acute myocardial in-farction, 2) unstable angina, 3) stable angina, and 4) no symptom. Acute myocardial infarction (0%) and unstable angina (3.8%) were infrequent clinical presentations in patients with BMS restenosis compared to stable angina (26.9%) and no symptom (69.2%). BMS restenosis may be a benign clinical entity in Japanese patients.