Instructive percutaneous coronary intervention to avoid the risk of side branch occlusion at a lesion with a lotus root appearance: a case report

BACKGROUND: A lotus root appearance is a rare entity, and there is little opportunity to perform coronary intervention for this kind of lesion. Because of its peculiar anatomical characteristics, one of the problems regarding percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for these lesions is related to the involvement of branch vessels. CASE PRESENTATION: We encountered a case of PCI for a stenotic lesion with a lotus root appearance in the mid-portion of the right coronary artery (RCA). To avoid the risk of right ventricular (RV) branch occlusion due to stent deployment in the main RCA, we re-crossed the third guidewire into the main RCA via the nearest point to the RV branch ostium through the communicating vascular lumen. Thereafter, we deployed a drug-eluting stent in the main RCA crossing over the RV branch, and the ostium of the RV branch remained intact, as we expected. CONCLUSIONS: This case is the first report in the world describing the details of how to maintain the patency of the side branch bifurcating from a lesion with a lotus root appearance under optical coherence tomography guidance.