Drug-Eluting Stent as an Option for Intractable In-Stent Coronary Restenosis

A 51-year-old man was admitted due to an acute anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. After thrombolytic therapy using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, stent implantation was performed from the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) to the mid LAD using a bare-metal stent (BMS). Since then, the patient suffered five repeated episodes of in-stent restenosis (ISR). At the first ISR, he was treated with plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA). At the second ISR, he was treated with brachytherapy, and at the third ISR, he was treated with POBA and one more BMS distal to the previously implanted stent. At the forth, only POBA was performed, and finally, at the fifth ISR, a sirolimus-eluting stent was implanted. Following that, the patient remained asymptomatic and follow-up coronary angiography showed no ISR.