Post stent problem

[Ron341]

As a result of  angina, a stent was fitted.  I am taking part in a hospital programme that monitors patients. This programme required me to undergo further angioplasty.  After the angioplasy was performed, I was informed the stent had "clogged" but was not given any advice on further treatment.  I was advised If pain  becomes apparent or breathing deteriates I am to report back to the hospital immediately.  What could cause this clogging and what, if any, is the corrective treatment?


This discussion is related to Post angioplasty/stent complications.

[mammo]

Often stents collapse, or if diet and exercise doesn't improve, plaque will continue to build even around the stent.  There is a stent that emits some type of chemical that prevents this from happening, but I think their use is not universal. If they used the word "clogged", I would question them as to how it happened so quickly, since I'm assuming your stent was fairly recent.  If it collapsed, they can sometimes re-open it with angioplasty, but several factors determine if this is possible.  My husband had 2 arteries clogged in his groin, and because it was like cement, they had to do surgery to clean out the arteries, they then stented them.  One collapsed, not completely, but they were able to re-open the stent with angioplasty.  I would not want to wait around until it's an emergency situation with this.  I would return to your cardiologist and get all the answers.

[ed34]

Stent collapses are actually rare. It isn't plaque that builds up around the stent which causes the restenosis.

It is all to do with clotting, or tissue growth of the artery. Also, the artery may compress the stent to around 50% of what the original expanded size was. It is also believed that a type of herpes virus usually dormant may be a cause for abnormal cell growth within a coronary artery when damaged by a balloon or stenting. The stent can cause lots of tiny fractures in the plaque, causing a clotting progression. However, aspirin/plavix should help prevent this in most cases. When stented, an artery will attempt to repair the lining by growing new tissue. Scarred tissue tends to grow faster than normal tissue and can cause another blockage. Drug eluting stents have a chemical coating which seems to stop scarred tissue forming in most cases, ensuring only normal cells grow to form a nice smooth lining. These problems can all occur quite quickly after the procedure.
Sometimes inflammation can occur around a stent and gradually return to normal over time. This is also a problem which can occur after a bypass graft.