Preliminary experience with stent-supported coronary angioplasty in long narrowings using the long Freedom Force stent: acute and six-month clinical and angiographic results in a series of 27 consecutive patients.

Abstract

This report describes our preliminary experience with coronary stent-supported angioplasty in long narrowings using a long stent with an innovative design. Twenty-seven consecutive patients with target lesions >20 mm in length had a stenting procedure using the Freedom Force long coronary stent (Global Therapeutics, Inc., Broomfield, CO). Target lesion length ranged from 20.7-57.5 mm (mean, 27.66+/-9.41 mm). A total of 35 stents was implanted with a mean stented length of 36.26+/-12.36 mm. The stenting procedure was successful in all patients. Single long stent implantation was performed in 19 patients, while 8 patients had double stent implantation. No major cardiac adverse events occurred during hospital stay. The restenosis rate at the 6-mo angiographic follow-up was 38% (follow-up rate, 96%). During follow-up, no major cardiac events such as death, myocardial infarction, or coronary artery surgery occurred, while 3 patients (11%), all with recurrent angina and angiographic restenosis, underwent repeat coronary angioplasty. Potential advantages of this innovative stent in long narrowings relate to its high flexibility in passing through long tortuous diseased segments, and in treating long lesions using only 1 or 2 stents.