Old technique, new use: novel use of a buddy wire to deploy a detached stent

Abstract

Stent dislodgement or loss in a coronary artery carries significant risks of infarction, thrombosis and requirement for emergency bypass surgery. Even with the advent of premounted stents, stent loss can occasionally occur, especially when performing intervention in calcified and tortuous anatomy. Multiple stent retrieval/stent exclusion techniques have been described to overcome this dreaded complication. We describe the first case of deploying a dislodged stent using a buddy wire technique with both wires through the center of the dislodged stent, and subsequent use of the small balloon technique to successfully deploy a dislodged stent in a heavily calcified and tortuous circumflex artery.