Management of a broken guiding catheter tip: Cut and fix technique.

ABSTRACT

A 49-year-old male presented with class III exertional angina, 1 year after angioplasty of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and right coronary artery. Coronary angiogram revealed 90% in-stent restenosis (ISR) in mid-LAD with angiographic impression of stent fracture. Optical coherence tomographic evaluation of mid-LAD ISR showed a distinct 3 mm long "eclipse sign" indicating embolized, broken guiding catheter tip as a cause of ISR, which was confirmed on reviewing 1-year-old angiographic images. This was managed with "cut and fix technique" using cutting balloon and another drug-eluting stent. Optical coherence tomographic at 9 months showed well endothelialized stent with a thin layer of neo-intimal hyperplasia over the sandwiched broken guiding tip.