Intravascular Ultrasound Assessment of Acute Expansion of the Balloon-expandable Stent in Heavy Calcified Iliac Artery Lesions or in Lesions Resistant to Dilation by a Self-expanding Stent

Spontaneous Collapse of Balloon Expandable Stent in Heavily Calcified Aorta

Balloon expandable stents (BES), which are made of stainless steel, are vulnerable to external compression, leading to deformation or collapse/fracture of the stents. In this report, two cases of complete collapse of BES are presented. In both cases, BES were placed in a heavily calcified aorta and subsequently collapsed without any evidence of external compression. Repeated pulsation of heavily calcified aorta was presumed to be the cause of the stent collapse.