In-stent restenosis and thrombosis 41 months after drug-eluting stent implantation

Evidence indicates that very late stent thrombosis (> 1 year) occurs more frequently in drug-eluting stents than in bare metal stents after discontinuation of clopidogrel. We present a case of an 83 year old man with an LAD in-stent thrombosis 41 months after stenting with a sirolimus-eluting stent in whom clopidogrel was discontinued after 6 months based on these days' guidelines. In-stent thrombus was aspirated and intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) showed significant in-stent restenosis which had narrowed the minimal lumen diameter by 1 mm. The lesion was stented with a bare metal stent. The patient was discharged after recovery and had no recurrence of stent thrombosis in one month follow-up. We recommended indefinite dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel.     

Subacute stent thrombosis owing to complete clopidogrel resistance successfully managed with prasugrel

This report describes a case of an acute anterior myocardial infarction secondary to subacute stent thrombosis of a drug-eluting stent within the proximal segment of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) 5 days after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and stenting (PCI). The patient was initially managed with conventional dual-antiplatelet therapy (aspirin and clopidogrel) and was subsequently found to have complete absence of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor P2Y12 receptor inhibition. Following additional PCI of the LAD and substitution of clopidogrel for the thienopyridine prasugrel, therapeutic platelet inhibition was achieved without recurrence of stent thrombosis.     

Acute myocardial infarction due to late stent thrombosis seventeen months after stent implantation: a case report

A 59-year-old man with acute myocardial infarction underwent successful stent implantation for proximal left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion. Antiplatelet therapy with 100 mg aspirin/day and 200 mg cilostazol/day was started after stenting and continued for 4 weeks. There was no cardiac event during the 1 year follow-up period. Follow-up coronary angiography at 12 months after stenting revealed no in-stent restenosis. The patient was admitted 17 months later due to sudden onset of severe chest pain. Electrocardiography revealed ST segment elevation in leads V1-V4. Emergency coronary angiography disclosed obstruction of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery with thrombus. Intracoronary aspiration thrombectomy was successful. We describe a patient with acute myocardial infarction who had late stent thrombosis 17 months after stent implantation.     

A case report of very late thrombosis of coronary bare-metal stent 10 years after stenting

Although late stent thrombosis is not uncommon with the use of drug-eluting stents, it is unusual with the use of bare-metal stents (BMS) because stent endothelialization is considered to be completed 4 weeks after the intervention.(1) A 64 year-old male had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for a proximal left anterior descending (LAD) artery lesion with a BMS and excellent angiographic results were obtained. Two hundred mg of ticlopidine was prescribed for one month and 100 mg of aspirin daily was continued. One year after stent implantation, coronary angiography (CAG) showed no restenosis. Ten years and 7 months after stent implantation, he suffered an acute myocardial infarction due to stent thrombosis. Intra-coronary aspiration thrombectomy was successful. To the best of our knowledge, the longest delayed case of BMS thrombosis is 5 years after stent implantation.(2) Our report demonstrated evidence of the latest reported case of stent thrombosis with the use of a BMS.     

A case of subacute thrombosis associated with clopidogrel resistance after implantation of a zotarolimus-eluting stent

A 73-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with anterior acute myocardial infarction due to subacute thrombosis after coronary stenting with a zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES), which is a newly developed drug-eluting stent that has been widely used since May 2009 in Japan. Five days before, she underwent implantation with a ZES in the left anterior descending artery due to stable angina pectoris. After stenting, the intravascular ultrasonography showed no malapposition from the proximal to the distal edge of the stent. She received aspirin 100 mg/day and clopidogrel 75 mg/day from 2 weeks before the stent was implanted. When we investigated the single nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP2C19 in this patient, both CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*3 were detected, and she was classified as a poor metabolizer. This report is the first to describe subacute stent thrombosis following the implantation of a newly developed ZES in a Japanese patient, which may be related to clopidogrel resistance.     

Coronary stent thrombosis: time course and clinical outcome

The current clinical practice of stent implantation has changed over the last few years. We analysed the incidence and time course of stent thrombosis in patients undergoing successful coronary angioplasty and stenting over the last three years. All the patients were treated with aspirin and ticlopidine. A total of 13 patients experienced stent thrombosis. The mean age was 52+/-12 years; 12 were smokers and 10 had a recent history of myocardial infarction. None of these patients had received abciximab. The median time from stent implantation to stent thrombosis was 10 hours, with all the stent occlusions occurring within 18 hours of stent implantation procedure. All the patients underwent a repeat intervention at a median time of 30 minutes after the clinical suspicion of stent occlusion. On follow-up of 1 to 24 months, three patients developed reocclusion. In the present era of coronary angioplasty and stenting, when interventional procedures are not pre-planned and patients are treated with aspirin and ticlopidine or clopidogrel at the time of stent implantation, the incidence of stent thrombosis is low; it is seen mainly in patients with recent myocardial infarction, majority of them being smokers, and occurs within 18 hours in all the patients.     

药物洗脱支架术后血栓致急性冠状动脉综合征病因分析及处理评价

目的:分析药物洗脱支架术(DES)后支架内血栓形成导致急性冠状动脉综合征的影响因素。方法:分析38例DES术后形成支架内血栓形成患者的临床特点、冠状动脉病变特点、手术相关资料及患者发生急性冠状动脉综合征后的临床表现,处理措施和预后情况。结果:患者冠状动脉造影显示病变特点比较复杂,其中B2/C型病变占到了71%,分叉病变、慢性完全闭塞(CTO)病变、弥散长病变以及小血管病变也占到了相当大的比例,反映了真实的临床情况;38例患者中52.6%表现为急性ST段抬高心肌梗死,29%的患者表现为急性非ST段抬高心肌梗死;支架内血栓中急性、亚急性血栓形成占63%,晚期及迟发晚期血栓形成占37%;绝大多数患者成功接受了再次血运重建治疗,其中有31.6%的患者死亡;2例患者血小板聚集率≥50%,发生率为8.3%;4例接受冠脉内超声(IVUS)检查的患者结果显示:支架近端贴壁不良1例,支架远端残余夹层1例,支架内膜增生不完全1例,支架两端动脉瘤形成1例。结论:DES术后支架内血栓形成与患者的冠状动脉病变复杂程度、术后抗血小板治疗不充分、支架贴壁不良、夹层形成、内膜增生不完全以及动脉瘤的发生等因素相关,支架内血栓形成(ST)后多数表现为ST段抬高心肌梗死(STEMI),尽管大部分能成功再次血运重建治疗,但死亡率仍然较高(31.6%)。     

Neo-atherosclerosis in very late stent thrombosis of drug eluting stent

Background

Recent studies have described neo-atherosclerosis, developing inside the stent, as cause of very late stent thrombosis.

Case report

A 59-year-old man, with family history of coronary artery disease, presented to our Department because of anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Two years before he had underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with multiple drug-eluting stents (DES) implantation on proximal-mid left anterior descending artery (LAD), and mid-right coronary artery (RCA), respectively. The angiogram revealed stent thrombosis with total occlusion of proximal LAD. Multiple passages with manual thrombus-aspiration catheter were successfully performed with improvement in TIMI flow. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging revealed fully expanded stents without areas of inappropriate apposition to vessel wall; and mild to moderate intimal hyperplasia throughout the stented segment, with full covered stent struts; areas of ulcerated and ruptured plaque within the proximal struts of stented segment was depicted with intraluminal protruding material. Thus, an additional bare metal stent (BMS) was deployed inside and overlapping the previous in order to seal this plaque. OCT post procedure revealed optimal stent expansion and apposition, without residual protruding material. At 9-month follow-up patient was alive and free from symptoms. Coronary angiogram revealed patency of implanted stents without significant restenosis.

Conclusions

Neo-atherosclerosis with thrombosis on top of ruptured necrotic plaque core may play a role in the pathophysiology of very late stent thrombosis in both BMS and DES. Our report highlights the role OCT to assess the mechanism of VLST.     

光学相干断层成像评价药物洗脱支架置入术后晚期支架贴壁不良

目的 探讨药物洗脱支架(DES)置入术后晚期支架贴壁不良的特点.方法 分析32例(包括51支血管、共置入71个支架)置入DES 1年后[(14.8±5.2)个月]行光学相干断层成像(OCT)检查的患者资料,对支架节段的OCT图像每间隔0.5 mm取1帧图像进行分析,找出贴壁不良的支架金属结构,测量支架到参照血管内壁的距离及支架表面内膜厚度,分析晚期支架贴壁不良的特点.结果 OCT检查在7例(21.9%)患者中检出支架贴壁不良,其中4例合并支架段血管的正性重构,1例重叠置入支架,2例发现由血栓覆盖支架金属结构,7例患者随访期间无心脏不良事件发生.97.6%的支架金属结构完全贴壁并不同程度的内膜覆盖,2.4%的支架金属结构贴壁不良,包括1.2%的支架金属结构位于血管分支开口.位于血管分支开口的支架金属结构与其他贴壁不良支架表面的内膜覆盖厚度差异无统计学意义[(0.06±0.05)mm比(0.05±0.03)mm,P>0.05].绪论晚期支架贴壁不良见于DES置入最初的贴壁不良、血管壁正性重构、重叠置入支架以及支架金属结构位于分支血管开口;贴壁不良的支架金属结构表面亦有不同程度的内膜覆盖.     

西罗莫司洗脱支架术后极晚期血栓形成四例分析

目的回顾性分析西罗莫司洗脱支架术后发生极晚期支架内血栓形成患者的临床资料。方法2002年10月至2005年8月,共612例患者置入835枚西罗莫司洗脱支架,其中4例患者（0．65％）于2006年1至8月发生极晚期支架内血栓形成,导致急性前壁ST段抬高的心肌梗死再次入院。回顾性分析该4例患者的临床情况、抗血小板药物应用情况、造影结果以及PCI过程等相关资料。结果4例患者均为男性,年龄40～69岁,血栓发生时间为术后31～37个月。患者第一次支架术后服用氯吡格雷7～12个月,其中1例患者血栓发生前18个月停用阿司匹林。支架置入部位均为前降支,急诊造影提示支架内闭塞,局部可见明显血栓征象,前向血流TIMI0级,均再次行PCI治疗后存活。结论药物洗脱支架术后可以发生极晚期血栓形成,药物洗脱支架术后的远期随访问题值得重视。     

Optimal management of platelet function after coronary stenting

Opinion statement Coronary stenting elicits vessel wall damage, and subsequent activation of platelets is implicated as a major component of complications such as acute, subacute, and late stent thrombosis. As such, dual antiplatelet therapy using aspirin and clopidogrel has become a routine adjunct to coronary stenting. Use of aspirin and clopidogrel with or without glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors after coronary stenting reduces the complication rate and improves long-term outcomes. Dual antiplatelet therapy using aspirin and clopidogrel is recommended for at least 4 weeks with bare metal stents, and for 3 to 6 months with drug-eluting stents for prevention of major adverse cardiac events. After coronary stenting, 1 year of dual antiplatelet therapy is recommended for prevention of future cardiac events. However, despite the use of antiplatelet agents, stent thrombosis occurs in approximately 1% of patients, with an increased likelihood of occurrence in high-risk patients or a lesion subset of patients. Although the incidence of stent thrombosis is low, stent thrombosis usually presents as acute coronary syndrome and the mortality rate is up to 45%. Thus, considering the widespread use of stents, a considerable number of people are inadequately protected from thrombotic events despite current standard antiplatelet therapy using aspirin and clopidogrel. A concern with clopidogrel is the loading time and loading dose required to achieve and maintain optimal inhibition of platelet aggregation. The current recommendation for ensuring maximum antiplatelet activity is administration of a 300-mg loading dose of clopidogrel initiated at least 6 hours prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and ideally the day before. If this is not possible, a loading dose of 600 mg of clopidogrel should be administered at least 2 hours before PCI. Recently, new combinations of antiplatelet agents (ie, triple therapy using aspirin, clopidogrel, and cilostazol) and new drugs with potent antiplatelet effects (ie, Prasugrel [currently being developed by Sankyo Pharmaceuticals and Ube Pharmaceuticals in Japan and by Eli Lilly and Co. (Indianapolis, IN) in the United States], Cangrelor [currently being developed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE], and AZD6140) have been evaluated in clinical trials; such treatments may help reduce the number of cardiac events after coronary stenting.     

Very delayed coronary stent fracture: A case report

A stent fracture is an emerging complication of the coronary stents. There are numerous risk factors for stent fractures; which include forceful exaggerated motion in the atrioventricular groove seen in right coronary artery, long stent, an ostial lesion at the point of maximum curvature in a tortuous vessel, stent over-expansion, stent overlapping with different size stents, complex lesion after stenting of a totally occluded vessel, Cypher stent and a highly mobile segment causing high mechanical stress. Furthermore, chronic stretch at specific vessel sites as bends may lead to late occurrence of fracture.Here we report a case of 40-year-old male who had two overlapping Cypher stents (3.0 × 13 mm and 2.75 × 18 mm) deployed at mid left anterior descending artery 2 years earlier presented with progressive chest pain.     

Very late stent thrombosis in late stent malapposition after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation

Late stent malapposition (LSM) has been demonstrated to be more common after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation than after bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation. To date, this unusual intravascular ultrasonic finding after DES implantation, however, has not received enough attention, because previous studies suggested few adverse clinical sequelae from LSM. We present a case of angiographically-confirmed very late stent thrombosis (ST) in LSM after elective implantation of sirolimus-eluting stents. In this 32-year-old male patient, very late ST occurred at 29 months after DES implantation and at 20 months after the identification of LSM. Although this patient had received sufficient dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel for more than 1 year, he suffered from ST shortly after the discontinuation of clopidogrel. Thus, patients with LSM may pose a significant risk for very late ST after discontinuation of dual antiplatelet therapy. The findings suggest that dual antiplatelet therapy should be further prolonged in patients with LSM.     

Stent malapposition,as a potential mechanism of very late stent thrombosis after bare-metal stent implantation: A case report

A 90-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. He had a history of post-infarction angina pectoris 79 months ago and had a bare-metal stent (BMS) implanted in the proximal left anterior descending artery at our hospital. Emergent coronary angiography demonstrated thrombotic occlusion in the previously stented segment. After catheter thrombectomy, antegrade flow was restored, but 90% stenosis with haziness persisted in the proximal and distal portions of the previously stented segment. Intravascular ultrasound imaging showed interstrut cavities or stent malapposition at the proximal and distal sites of stented segment. In close proximity to the sites, residual thrombi were also observed. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) demonstrated neither lipid-laden neointimal tissue nor rupture but clearly demonstrated residual thrombus adjacent to the malapposed region in addition to the stent malapposition. PCI with balloon was successfully performed and stent apposition was confirmed by OCT. Stent malapposition is an unusual mechanism of very late stent thrombosis after BMS implantation. OCT can clearly reveal the etiology of stent thrombosis.     

Late stent malapposition with marked positive vascular remodeling observed only at the site of drug-eluting stents after multivessel coronary stenting

A 74-year-old woman presented with effort-induced chest pain. Diagnostic coronary angiography revealed three-vessel disease. A successful angioplasty was performed with two sirolimus-eluting stents placed in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and left circumflex artery (LCX). The right coronary artery (RCA) was treated with a bare-metal stent. Follow-up angiography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) assessment were performed 8 months later, which showed late stent malapposition (LSM) with marked positive vascular remodeling around the drug-eluting stents (DES) in both LAD and LCX lesions, but there was no evidence of ectatic area around the BMS in the RCA lesion. Compared with the baseline IVUS, a significant increase in external elastic membrane (EEM) cross-sectional area was found. Twenty-seven months later, we performed repeat follow-up angiography. Intravascular ultrasound still showed vessel malapposition. A previous report showed that aneurysmal dilatation of the stented segment with severe localized hypersensitivity reaction could be a potential cause of late thrombosis after DES implantation. If LSM is related to hypersensitivity of the DES, it may have a potential risk of adverse events. Although there is a paucity of data regarding malapposition as the cause of adverse events, careful long-term follow-up of patients with vessel enlargement after DES placement is recommended.     

Acute stent thrombosis in a patient with giant cell arteritis

A 70-year-old man presented with a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction attributable to a 99% occlusion of his mid-left anterior descending artery and concomitant symptoms suggestive of giant cell arteritis. He underwent bare metal stenting, with an excellent angiographic result, and was placed on dual antiplatelet therapy, as well as oral prednisone 30 mg twice daily, while awaiting confirmatory temporal artery biopsy. Unfortunately, 70 h after percutaneous coronary intervention, he developed acute stent thrombosis. Platelet aggregometry demonstrated that he was responsive to acetylsalicylic acid, but marginally responsive to clopidogrel. Over the next 30 days, he had a marked clinical improvement, with an improvement in platelet response to clopidogrel that paralleled the clinical resolution of his vasculitis. The present case reports the first incidence of acute stent thrombosis associated with giant cell arteritis, and suggests that the proinflammatory milieu of acute inflammatory arthritides may warrant prolonged, aggressive antiplatelet therapy in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome.     

Increased long term rates of stent thrombosis and mortality in patients given clopidogrel as compared to ticlopidine following coronary stent implantation

BACKGROUND: Clopidogrel has largely replaced ticlopidine following coronary stent implantation. Recently, concern has been raised regarding the possibility of excess long term mortality in patients given clopidogrel rather than ticlopidine following coronary stenting. METHODS: We studied 1519 consecutive patients who underwent 2020 stent implantations and were discharged on dual antiplatelet regimens of either aspirin and ticlopidine or aspirin and clopidogrel given for up to 4 weeks. Thrombotic stent occlusion (TSO) was defined as ST elevation myocardial infarction in the stented artery territory associated with angiographic demonstration of complete stent occlusion. Mortality follow up was obtained for all patients by linkage to the Population Register. Follow up duration was 12 months. RESULTS: TSO occurred in 37 stents at a median of 29 days post procedure. Of these cases, six occurred in the ticlopidine group (0.7%) and 31 in the clopidogrel group (2.8%) (p<0.01). The median time to TSO was 34 days and 28 days in ticlopidine and clopidogrel treated patients, respectively (p<0.01). After controlling for multiple demographic, clinical and angiographic variables clopidogrel (vs. ticlopidine) treatment remained the sole predictor of TSO (OR: 5.4, 95% CI=1.2-24.1, p=0.028). Of even more concern, clopidogrel treatment was associated with an increased risk of 1 year mortality (OR: 1.8, 95% CI=1.2-2.8). CONCLUSIONS: Long term follow up after stent implantation in patients receiving the traditional 2-4 weeks course of dual antiplatelet therapy reveals increased rates of TSO and mortality in patients given clopidogrel as opposed to ticlopidine. Whether longer treatment with clopidogrel will change these observations deserves further study.     

Simultaneous Very Late Stent Thrombosis in Multiple Coronary Arteries

We report 2 noteworthy cases of very late stent thrombosis presenting as ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, with vastly different manifestations. Both patients were women who had histories of multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention with first-generation sirolimus-eluting stents, in 2005 and 2006. On the more recent occasions reported here, one underwent successful multivessel primary percutaneous coronary intervention, while the other underwent successful multivessel “plain old balloon angioplasty.” Both were discharged from the hospital with advice to stop smoking and to follow a lifelong regimen of aspirin and clopidogrel.On the basis of these two cases and our review of the current literature, we ask whether it is now prudent to recommend lifelong dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent deployment. Moreover, in order to account for cases of stent thrombosis that occur ≥5 years after drug-eluting stent implantation, should we perhaps suggest the addition of “extremely late stent thrombosis” to the existing Academic Research Consortium classification?Key words: Aspirin, clopidogrel, coronary restenosis/etiology, coronary thrombosis/etiology, drug delivery systems/adverse effects, immunosuppressive agents, paclitaxel, platelet aggregation inhibitors/therapeutic use, sirolimus/therapeutic use, stent thrombosis, stents, drug-eluting/adverse effects, ST-elevation myocardial infarction, very late stent thrombosisStent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a serious concern for both cardiologists and patients. The incidence of stent thrombosis within the first 30 days in patients randomized to receive sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) in clinical trials is reported to be no different from that in patients randomized to a control group receiving bare-metal stents.¹ Stent thrombosis has been reported as late as 17 months,² and more recently as late as 26 months, after SES implantation.³ We report 2 cases of simultaneous very late stent thrombosis in multiple coronary arteries ≥5 years after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, presenting as an ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) despite a regimen of aspirin in patient 1 and both aspirin and clopidogrel in patient 2.     

Randomized comparison of cilostazol vs clopidogrel after drug-eluting stenting in diabetic patients--clilostazol for diabetic patients in drug-eluting stent (CIDES) trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that cilostazol may not only prevent stent thrombosis, but may also have positive effect in the prevention of restenosis. However, the effect of cilostazol on restenosis after successful deployment of drug-eluting stent (DES) in patients with diabetes mellitus has not been evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 280 patients at 8 clinical sites were randomized. The patients (61.7+/-9.9 years old, 163 males) who underwent successful stenting were randomized to aspirin and cilostazol (group I, n=141, 61.2+/-9.6 years old) vs aspirin and clopidogrel (group II, n=139, 62.0+/-10.0 years old) after 1 month of aspirin, cilostazol, and clopidogrel combination treatment. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics of the groups. The type of DES implanted did not differ between the groups. There were no differences in angiographic and procedural characteristics of the groups. Major adverse cardiac events, including acute and subacute stent thrombosis within 1 month, did not occur in either group. Cases of angiographic late stent thrombosis were 1 (0.9%) in group I and 1 (0.8%) in group II. Follow-up coronary angiography was performed in 237 patients (84.6%). Mean follow-up duration was 7.1 months. The rate of angiographic restenosis (stent plus 5-mm borders) was 9 (8.0%) in group I and 20 (16.1%) in group II, p=0.041). The minimal luminal diameter at follow-up period in group I was 2.55+/-0.63 mm compared with 2.41+/-0.83 mm in group II (p=NS). CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with aspirin and cilostazol for the prevention of stent restenosis is comparable or superior to that of aspirin and clopidogrel in diabetic patients who undergo DES implantation.     

Triple versus dual antiplatelet therapy after coronary stenting: impact on stent thrombosis.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated safety and efficacy of triple antiplatelet therapy with aspirin, clopidogrel, or ticlopidine and cilostazol after coronary stenting. BACKGROUND: Triple antiplatelet therapy might have beneficial effect to prevent thrombotic complications in patients undergoing coronary stenting. METHODS: Patients undergoing successful coronary stenting were divided into dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus clopidogrel or ticlopidine, group I, n = 1,597) and triple antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus clopidogrel or ticlopidine plus cilostazol, group II, n = 1,415) groups. The primary end point included death, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, or stent thrombosis within 30 days. The secondary end point was side effects of study drugs, including major bleeding, vascular complication, hepatic dysfunction, and hematological complications. RESULTS: Multi-vessel stenting and the use of long stents were more prevalent in group II than in group I. The primary end point was 0.8% in group I and 0.3% in group II (p = 0.085). Stent thrombosis within 30 days was significantly lower in group II (n = 1, 0.1%) than in group I (n = 9, 0.5%; p = 0.024). The independent predictors of stent thrombosis were primary stenting (odds ratio [OR] 7.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.0 to 30.8, p = 0.003) and triple therapy (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.98, p = 0.048). The overall adverse drug effects, including major bleeding, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia, were no different between two groups (1.8% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.104). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the dual antiplatelet regimen, triple antiplatelet therapy seemed to be more effective in preventing thrombotic complications after stenting without an increased risk of side effects. Triple antiplatelet therapy might be safely applied in patients or lesions with a high risk of stent thrombosis.