Comparative endoluminal visualization of TAXUS crush-stenting at 9 months follow-up by intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography.

We report a case of crush-stenting with Paclitaxel-eluting TAXUS stents in a left anterior descending artery (LAD) bifurcation lesion. In order to obtain precise information on the mid-term neointimal response of the main vessel to this approach, we evaluated the patient angiographically 9 months later, including intravascular visualization with optical coherence tomography (OCT), a new high resolution imaging technique, and IVUS. The evaluation revealed that there was a homogeneous neointimal coverage of the main vessel stents without evidence of significant recurrent lumen renarrowing or malappositions. Compared to IVUS, OCT proved the coverage of the stent struts adjacent to the vessel wall with a superior imaging quality and, in addition, provided new insights into the stent performance at the open bifurcation site.