Is intravascular ultrasound after coronary stenting a safe procedure? Three cases of stent damage attributable to ICUS in a tantalum coil stent.

The use of coronary stents decreases the morbidity associated with acute closure and restenosis after balloon angioplasty. Intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) guidance of stent implantation has been advocated to improve stent deployment and thereby to further improve the clinical outcome after stenting, over and above balloon angioplasty. Whereas the merits of intracoronary ultrasound in this respect still remain to be proven, the present paper illustrates that ICUS itself may also entail complications. This paper reports on three cases of stent damage induced or aggravated by the ICUS procedure.