Provisional and complex techniques for bifurcation treatment - Trading apposition for scaffolding?

Abstract

Provisional T-stenting with stenting of the main branch and optional side branch (SB) stenting in the case of significant SB occlusion with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow <3 is the strategy chosen nowadays by most interventionalists for treating simple bifurcation lesions. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of complex true bifurcation lesions remains, however, the subject of debate: treatment of complex bifurcation lesions requires more time than treatment of simple bifurcations and can lead to significantly higher rates of restenosis, target lesion revascularisation and myocardial infarction. Current bifurcation techniques often fail to ensure continuous stent coverage of the SB ostium and of the two bifurcation branches without a simultaneous increase in the rate of malapposed struts. Stent struts left unapposed in the lumen disturb blood flow and are increasingly recognised as increasing the risk of stent thrombosis and focal in-stent restenosis, limiting the success of stent procedures in these lesions. New technology and dedicated designs may, in the near future, overcome such limitations of conventional two-stent bifurcation strategies. © TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2012.