Delayed coverage of drug-eluting stents after interventional revascularisation of chronic total occlusions assessed by optical coherence tomography: the ALSTER-OCT-CTO registry.

Aims: Following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for revascularisation of chronic total occlusions (CTO) patients are at increased risk for stent thrombosis (ST). Delayed drug-eluting stent (DES) coverage has previously been shown to be related to ST. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), we tested the hypothesis that CTO-PCI is associated with delayed DES coverage compared to non-CTO lesions.