Review of subacute stent thrombosis following percutaneous coronary intervention at a low-volume catheterization laboratory.

Background: The frequency of coronary stent subacute thrombosis (SAT) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with uncoated stents in recent studies is 0.5%-0.9%. Prior studies have indicated that complication rates are significantly higher when performed in low-volume centers. We sought to determine the incidence and outcomes of SAT following PCI with stent placement at a low-volume catheterization laboratory.

Methods: We reviewed the Brooke Army Medical Center Interventional Database for all consecutive PCIs with stent implantation performed from January 1998 to December 2002. Clinical outcomes were obtained primarily through hospitalization records and clinic follow-up visits.

Results: There were 789 interventions with stenting on 750 patients over the specified time period, for an average of 158 procedures on 150 patients per year. There were seven cases of SAT, representing a rate of 0.89%. There was no difference in the clinical characteristics, procedural technique, or postprocedural antithrombotic therapy of the subjects with and without SAT. Of those with SAT, there were no subjects requiring surgical revascularization during index hospitalization, and all survived to index hospital discharge. Six of these seven subjects with SAT (85.7%) were alive at one year, with the single death noncardiovascular related.

Conclusions: The incidence of thrombosis occurring within 30 days of intracoronary stent implantation is similar in low- and high-volume catheterization laboratories. In our low-volume laboratory experience, these events were not associated with significantly increased adverse outcomes.