Incidence of thrombotic stent occlusion during the first three months after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in 500 consecutive patients

Sirolimus-eluting stents have been used in our institution for all percutaneous interventions, without clinical or anatomic exclusion criteria, as part of the Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated At Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital registry. We analyzed the incidence of (sub)acute stent thrombosis after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in an unselected population of 510 consecutive patients. At 3-month follow-up, (sub)acute stent thrombosis was diagnosed in 2 patients (0.4%) 6 hours and 11 days after the procedure, respectively. These cases occurred in diabetic women with complex coronary lesions. Intravascular ultrasound examination showed inadequate stent expansion and uncovered distal dissection as possible mechanical explanations for the thrombosis.