[Noninvasive radiodiagnosis of late coronary stent stenoses].

OBJECTIVE: To study the diagnostic value of stress echocardiography (stress echoCG) in the early diagnosis of coronary stent stenoses in the late postoperative period. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study enrolled 39 men aged 37 to 58 years with symptoms of cardialgia, who had previously (3 to 8 years earlier) undergone balloon angioplasty and coronary artery stenting to treat coronary heart disease. To exclude coronary stent stenoses, all the patients had dobutamine stress echoCG, transesophageal atrial electrostimulation, and further coronary angiographies (CAG). RESULTS: Stress echoCG showed a lesion of the stented coronary artery in 34 patients and that of previously angiographically intact coronary arteries in 5 patients. According to CAG data, there was stenosis of > 70% in the coronary stent lumen in 16 patients and that of 40 to 70% in 12 patients. Six patients were found to have de novo stenoses in the previously stented coronary artery. Stress echoCG showed that the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of both stenoses of intracoronary stents and de novo ones in the stented artery and previously intact coronary arteries was 100%. CONCLUSION: Stress echoCG is a highly informative method for the early topical diagnosis of both stenoses of coronary stents and a stenotic lesion of previously intact portions of coronary arteries. The early diagnosis of coronary stent stenoses permits mini-invasive endovascular treatment to be performed.