Background Despite optimizations of coronary stenting technology, a residual risk of in-stent restenosis (ISR) remains. Vessel wall injury has important impact on the development of ISR. While injury can be assessed in histology, there is no injury score available to be used in clinical practice. Methods Seven rats underwent abdominal aorta stent implantation. At 4 weeks after implantation, animals were euthanized, and strut indentation, defined as the impression of the strut into the vessel wall, as well as neointimal growth were assessed. Established histological injury scores were assessed to confirm associations between indentation and vessel wall injury. In addition, stent strut indentation was assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in an exemplary clinical case. Results Stent strut indentation was associated with vessel wall injury in histology. Furthermore, indentation was positively correlated with neointimal thickness, both in the per-strut analysis (r=0.5579) and in the per-section analysis (r=0.8620; both p<0.001). In a clinical case, indentation quantification in OCT was feasible, enabling assessment of injury in vivo. Conclusion Assessing stent strut indentation enables periprocedural assessment of stent-induced damage in vivo and therefore allows for optimization of stent implantation. The assessment of stent strut indentation might become a valuable tool in clinical practice.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) [grant numbers 465213526; 395712048].

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