Imaging of coronary stents using multislice computed tomography

Coronary artery stenting has become the most important form of coronary revascularization. With the introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) the rate of restenosis has declined but due to the delayed formation of intimal tissue the incidence of late (> 30 days after stent placement) and very late thrombosis of the stents is higher for DES. Visualization of the stent lumen is possible with multislice computed tomography (MSCT) but blooming artifacts hamper the delineation of the stent lumen. The severity of these artifacts and thus the width of the visible stent lumen depends on several factors, such as the thickness of the stent struts, the design of the stent and the underlying material itself. The most important factor influencing the extent of blooming artifacts is the convolution kernel selected for image reconstruction. Dedicated, edge-enhancing kernels offer superior lumen visualization compared to the soft or medium kernels used for coronary artery imaging. The trade-off using edge-enhancing kernels is an increase in image noise. Despite all efforts undertaken to enhance stent lumen visualization, stent imaging is still a challenge in MSCT. In the majority of stents currently used, sufficient lumen visualization is only possible in stents with a diameter larger than 3 mm. A position of the stent in the proximal segments of the coronary artery tree facilitates delineation of the stent lumen not only because of the relatively little motion but also because of the lesser extent of blooming artifacts obscuring the stent lumen if the stent is oriented perpendicular to the z-axis of the scanner.