EARLY AND LATE OUTCOME FOLLOWING DEPLOYMENT OF A NEW FLEXIBLE TANTALUM INTRACORONARY STENT IN DOGS

A new rediopaque, highly flexible balloon-expandable tantalum stent was tested. Thirty-six of 40 stents were successfully deployed percutaneously in the coronary arteries of 31 dogs. The dogs were given aspirin before, intravenous heparin during, and aspirin alone after the procedure. One dog died at 24 hours because of coronary occlusion following traumatic implantation. Four dogs were put to death early, revealing reendothelialization by 9 days. Eleven dogs were put to death from 2 weeks to 9 months during long-term follow-up, showing all vessels widely patent with the stent uniformly embedded within a stable neointimal layer. Follow-up arteriography showed patency in all remaining stents up to 1 year, with no perforation or aneurysm formation. Four stents were placed into canine peripheral arteries and were removed percutaneously after deployment. Pathology revealed no significant trauma to involved vessels. This tantalum stent exhibits feasibility of percutaneous deployment, early neointimal formation, low thrombogenicity on long-term aspirin therapy alone, and patency up to 1 year in this canine model. © 1992.