Very late bare metal stent thrombosis: The role of restenosis

Stent endothelization is complete after one month in the absence of radiation therapy. The incidence of late stent thrombosis associated with bare metal stents is low beyond this one month period. In this paper, we report on a case of very late acute stent thrombosis that occurred after 118 months of first bare metal stent implantation. A 55-year-old male patient was admitted with chest pain and was diagnosed to have acute anterior myocardial infarction. He had a history of bare metal stent implantation for a critical stenosis in the left anterior descending coronary artery. Immediate coronary angiography demonstrated occlusion of the stent in the left coronary artery. Thromboaspiration was not an available option, so a new bare metal stent was implanted and TIMI III flow was established after balloon angioplasty.