Pushing the Boundaries: Drug-Coated Balloons to Treat a Calcified and Thrombotic Lesion in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Patient: Male, 72-year-old Final Diagnosis: NSTEMI Symptoms: ACS • NSTEMI Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Cardiology OBJECTIVE: Unusual clinical course BACKGROUND: Use of drug-coated balloons (DCB) is an important research topic. Many companies are quickly developing new, cutting-edge technologies and means to deliver drugs. Moreover, interest is growing in use of sirolimus-coated balloons, a promising technology in the “leaving nothing behind” era. This, in combination with interest in lesion preparation and intravascular imaging, creates a promising future for DCB for years to come. CASE REPORT: A 72-year-old patient presented with NSTEMI. Coronary angiography showed a subtotal stenosis of the right coronary artery (RCA). PCI was performed on the native RCA and, given the patient’s failure to adhere to the drug regimen, he was treated with a metal-free PCI strategy. After using a novel lesion preparation technique with cutting balloon and high-pressure non-compliant balloon, a novel Sirolimus DCB was used. Final angiography and OCT run showed good luminal gain despite diffuse dissections. To assess vascular healing, we performed coronary angiography 5 weeks later, which demonstrated an excellent result, with absence of residual dissection and further luminal gain compared to the index procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a novel lesion preparation technique (cutting balloon and high-pressure highly non-compliant balloon) in combination with guidance by intravascular imaging and the use of a new sirolimus-coated balloon may attract attention in the interventional cardiology community and stimulate discussion on lesion preparation and use of drug-coated balloons.