Coronary bioabsorbable magnesium stent: 15-month intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography findings

A 65-year-old man underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention for a stenosis in the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD). As part of the PROGRESS study (designed as a first-in-man coronary study in 65 patients in seven European centres), a 3.5 × 15 mm magnesium-based bioabsorbable stent (Lekton Magic Stent, Biotronik, Bulach, Switzerland) was implanted achieving an excellent angiographic result. Fifteen months following the initial intervention, an exercise treadmill test to evaluate exertional dyspnoea was positive. Angiography revealed a new and separate lesion in the mid-LAD/diagonal artery that was treated successfully with two sirolimus-eluting stents (Cypher Select, Cordis, J&J) in a culotte fashion. In the previously treated proximal segment, the vessel lumen was patent with no signs of narrowing or edge effect (Panel A). Imaging using intravascular ultrasound (Panel B) and optical coherence tomography (Panel C) showed the absence of circumferential stent struts with shadowing. Small, scattered, and circumscribed zones of high intensity (arrows) indicated the previous stent strut position (Panels B and C). All struts were covered by a thin neointimal layer with a thickness between 80 and 140 µm (Panel C).