Pinhole balloon rupture and stuck stent: case report of a new and simple bailout technique for incomplete stent dilatation caused by rupture from a highly calcified lesion

We report a case of highly calcified 75 % stenotic lesion in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. During stenting, the balloon incurred a pinhole rupture at the moment of dilatation and the stent expanded only at both ends. This caused the balloon and stent to become lodged in the coronary artery. An attempt to dilate the balloon using rapid inflation alone was not successful, but we succeeded in dilating the stent with rapid balloon inflation by increasing the concentration of the contrast medium. We confirmed the occurrence of this phenomenon in vitro.