Intracoronary Ultrasound for Optimizing Stent Implantation

From the bare metal stent era, studies have demonstrated improved procedural results and fewer complications when using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance, compared with angiography alone. In the drug-eluting stent (DES) era, predictors of DES restenosis and thrombosis such as under-expansion, incomplete stent apposition, and edge-related problems are readily detectable by IVUS. Pre-intervention and post-intervention IVUS measurements can help to achieve more adequate lesion coverage and the best possible stent expansion in order to eliminate the common predictors of DES failures and, perhaps, also result in reduced adverse clinical outcomes.