[Noninvasive evaluation of the patency of coronary vessel stents using electron beam tomography segment images with administration of contrast media].

The implantation of intracoronary stents is increasingly employed in interventional cardiology. Even with high-resolution x-ray equipment the tiny struts of stainless steel stents can usually not be visualized. Coronary angiography is required to prove stent patency, and correct localization and deployment of the stent can only be assessed with intravascular ultrasound. In this setting a non-invasive diagnostic method would be of great advantage to document patency of the stented vessel segment. Herein we describe two patients with stent implantation in whom contrast-medium-enhanced electron beam tomographic scanning was applied to check for vessel patency. A pathological finding with reduced contrast enhancement could be distinguished from a normal finding, as was confirmed subsequently as a highly obstructed and a patent stented vessel segment by angiography. Thus, for the first time an alternative non-invasive diagnostic method may provide information on patency of stented vessel segments and may be useful for sequential follow-up investigations.