The patient was a 53-year-old (male) suffering from unstable angina due to stenosis of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. After 2.5 mm balloon predilatation (12 atm), a 3.0×28 mm bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) (Absorb™; Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA) was implanted at 14 atm with an angiographically good result (Panel A). The patient was discharged on aspirin and clopidogrel.
Coronary angiography one month later showed a severe lesion in the distal part of the BVS, suggesting in-stent thrombosis (Panel B). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) confirmed mixed thrombus (Panel C, Panel D). With an aspiration catheter, a white structure measuring 9×2 ...