Very very late thrombosis of a sirolimus-eluting stent: does suboptimal stent expansion take its toll even after three years?

We report the case of a 55-year-old man who underwent coronary angiography in 2004 for early angina following anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Angiography disclosed a critical stenosis in the proximal left anterior descending artery and significant stenoses in the right coronary artery and first obtuse marginal branch, treated with two paclitaxel-eluting stents and a sirolimus-eluting stent, respectively. After completion of a six-month thienopyridine course and while still being on lifelong aspirin, in 2007 he was readmitted for lateral ST-elevation myocardial infarction: angiography revealed stent thrombosis beginning at the proximal edge of the sirolimuseluting stent implanted in the first obtuse marginal branch. Intravascular ultrasound was performed after thrombectomy but before balloon dilation showing suboptimal stent expansion and a thrombus partially adhering to the sirolimus-eluting stent. The procedure was then successfully completed with the implantation of another sirolimus-eluting stent. This clinical vignette suggests that suboptimal drug-eluting stent deployment may be associated with stent thrombosis well after the traditional time frame of subacute thrombosis.