Incredibly late thromboses in first generation drug eluting stents: a case series

BACKGROUND: The drug-eluting stents have decreased the incidence of instent restenosis compared to bare metal stents. But, the incidence of late and very late stent thrombosis has increased with the drug-eluting stents. CASE PRESENTATION: We are here, reporting three cases of incredibly late instent thrombosis, each one occurring after more than 50 months of drug-eluting stent placement. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of stent thrombosis as late as 5 years has been reported in literature. This highlights the importance that there may be no limit to the time duration to the occurrence of very late stent thrombosis and dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel may have to be continued indefinitely in patients with drug-eluting stents.