Late stent malapposition after drug-eluting stent implantation: an intravascular ultrasound analysis with long-term follow-up.

Background— Late stent malapposition (LSM) after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation has not been evaluated sufficiently in real-world practice. Methods and Results— We evaluated the incidence, mechanisms, predictors, and long-term prognosis of LSM after DES implantation in 557 patients (705 native lesions; sirolimus-eluting stent in 538 lesions and paclitaxel-eluting stent in 167 lesions) in whom intravascular ultrasound was performed at index and 6-month follow-up. LSM occurred in 82 patients with 85 lesions (12.1% overall, 95% CI 9.7% to 14.5%, 71 lesions (13.2%) in sirolimus-eluting stents and 14 lesions [8.4%] in paclitaxel-eluting stents, P=0.12]; the incidence was 25.0% (4/16) after directional coronary atherectomy before stenting, 27.5% (14/51) in chronic total occlusion lesions, and 31.8% (7/22) after primary stenting in acute myocardial infarction (P=0.13, P<0.001, and P=0.001, respectively, versus elective stenting with conventional balloon predilation, 9.7% [60/616]). There was an increase o...