Longitudinal stent elongation during retraction of entrapped jailed guidewire in a side branch with balloon catheter support: a case report.

A 72-year-old man underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention for a subtotal occlusion in the mid-portion of the left anterior descending artery involving a large diagonal branch. After successful stenting with a 3.0/24 mm bare metal stent, during which, the diagonal branch was protected with a coronary guidewire, conventional retrieval of the jailed guide wire was impossible. Subsequently, several attempts at a strong retraction of the wire with the support of a balloon catheter enabled retrieval of the trapped wire. Optical coherence tomography performed after post-dilatation, revealed that the stent was elongated to the left main coronary artery, and the structure of the strut had become coarse in the proximal portion. The stent was believed to have become entangled with the balloon catheter when the guidewire was being pulled. This case suggests that retrieving the jailed guidewire with a balloon catheter carries a potential risk of entrapment in the deformed stent.