The Role of CT Imaging in a Fractured Coronary Stent with Pseudoaneurysm Formation

Abstract

We report a case of a 63-year-old male patient with multiple cardiovascular risk factors and previous myocardial infarction who was referred to the emergency department on September 2023 with symptoms and clinical and biological data consistent with an acute coronary event. A coronary angiography revealed severe ostial stenosis of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and intrastent thrombotic occlusion in the first two segments of the LAD. Two drug-eluting stents were implanted and the patient was discharged when hemodynamically stable; however, three weeks later, he returned to the emergency department complaining of fever, anterior chest pain, dyspnea at rest, and high blood pressure values at home. High levels of troponin T, C-reactive protein, and NT-proBNP were detected and blood cultures showed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The computed tomography (CT) examination showed a saccular dilatation had developed between two fragments of a stent mounted at the level of the LAD, surrounded by a hematic pericardial accumulation. LAD pseudoaneurysm ablation and a double aortocoronary bypass with inverted saphenous vein autograft were performed and the patient showed a favorable postoperative evolution. In this case, surgical revascularization was proven to be the appropriate treatment strategy, demonstrating the need to choose an individualized therapeutic option depending on case-specific factors.

Keywords

• computed tomography
• medical imaging
• angiography
• stent fracture
• pericardial hematoma
• coronary pseudoaneurysm