“Radio-lucent” and “radio-opaque” coronary stents characterized by multislice computed tomography

A 71-year-old man was admitted with stable angina pectoris. The coronary lesion in the obtuse marginal branch was successfully treated with a BVS bioabsorbable poly-l-lactic acid everolimus-eluting coronary stent and a Cypher stent. On multislice computed tomography (MSCT) coronary angiography performed after stenting, the in-stent lumen within radio-lucent polymer struts of the BVS stent was clearly depicted. In contrast, the metallic struts of the Cypher stent hampered precise in-stent luminal evaluation due to blooming artifact. Non-metallic coronary stents composed of radio-lucent polymers might have potential advantages compared to metallic stents with respect to non-invasive MSCT imaging.