Good neointimal coverage of a crushed stent segment protruding into the main vessel by follow-up optical coherence tomography in a patient with a diagonal branch lesion

There is currently no consensus regarding the optimum treatment strategy for an isolated side branch lesion. The usefulness of a side branch stenting technique with a balloon crushing the segment protruding into the main vessel has been reported; however, there remain concerns about malapposition of crushed stent struts and a consequent risk of stent thrombosis. We herein report a case with a diagonal branch lesion that was successfully treated with this technique. Follow-up optical coherence tomography clearly revealed that the protruding stent struts in the main vessel were crushed and covered almost completely. Our findings may support the feasibility of this treatment in the mid-term period.