Skip to main content
Log in

In-Stent Restenosis: Pathophysiology and Treatment

  • Coronary Artery Disease (D Feldman and V Voudris, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Management of in-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a clinical challenge after both bare metal stent and drug-eluting stent placement. Autopsy studies and intravascular imaging have augmented our understanding of the pathophysiology of ISR. The clinical presentation and symptoms vary considerably among patients from stable angina to unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction. Potential treatment strategies include plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA), rotational atherectomy, vascular brachytherapy (VBT), bare metal stents (BMS), drug-coated balloons (DCBs), and drug-eluting stent (DES) placement. The most efficacious therapy depends on patient and lesion characteristics, but drug-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons yield the most successful angiographic and clinical results. Here, we discuss the underlying pathology, risk factors, and clinical presentation of ISR while examining the evidence supporting the optimal interventional techniques for this commonly encountered clinical entity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ACS:

Acute coronary syndrome

BMS:

Bare metal stent

BVS:

Bioabsorbable vascular scaffold

CBA:

Cutting balloon angioplasty

DAPT:

Dual-antiplatelet therapy

DES:

Drug-eluting stent

DCB:

Drug-coated balloon

DEB:

Drug-eluting balloon

EES:

Everolimus-eluting stents

FFR:

Fractional flow reserve

ISAR-DESIRE:

Sirolimus-eluting Stent or Paclitaxel-eluting Stent vs Balloon Angioplasty for Prevention of Recurrences in Patients with Coronary In-stent Restenosis: a Randomized Controlled Trial

ISAR DESIRE 3:

Paclitaxel-eluting Balloons, Paclitaxel-eluting Stents, and Balloon Angioplasty in Patients with Restenosis after Implantation of a Drug-eluting Stent

ISAR DESIRE 4:

Intracoronary Stenting and Angiographic Results: Optimizing Treatment of Drug Eluting Stent In-Stent Restenosis 4

ISR:

In-stent restenosis

IVUS:

Intravascular ultrasound

LDL:

Low-density lipoprotein

LOE:

Level of evidence

MI:

Myocardial infarction

OCT:

Optical coherence tomography

PCI:

Percutaneous coronary intervention

PEB:

Paclitaxel-eluting balloon

PEPCAD:

A Safety and Efficacy Study of Paclitaxel-Eluting Balloon to Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent

PES:

Paclitaxel-eluting stent

POBA:

Plain old balloon angioplasty

RA:

Rotational atherectomy

RIBS I:

Restenosis Intra-stent: Balloon Angioplasty Versus Elective Stenting

RIBS II:

The Restenosis Intrastent: Balloon Angioplasty Versus Elective Sirolimus-Eluting Stenting

RIBS IV:

Restenosis Intra-Stent of Drug-Eluting Stents: Drug-Eluting Balloon vs Everolimus-Eluting Stent

RIBS V:

Restenosis Intra-Stent of Bare Metal Stents: Paclitaxel-Eluting Balloon vs Everolimus-Eluting Stent

SES:

Sirolimus-eluting stents

SISR:

Five-year follow-up of the Sirolimus-Eluting Stents vs Vascular Brachytherapy for Bare Metal In-Stent Restenosis

ST:

Stent thrombosis

TLR:

Target lesion revascularization

TVR:

Target vessel revascularization

VBT:

Vascular brachytherapy

ZES:

Zotarolimus-eluting stents

References and Recommended Reading

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. Dangas GD, Claessen BE, Caixeta A, Sanidas EA, Mintz GS, Mehran R. In-stent restenosis in the drug-eluting stent era. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;56:1897–907.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Alfonso F, Byrne RA, Rivero F, Kastrati A. Current treatment of in-stent restenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63:2659–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Brener SJ, Kereiakes DJ, Simonton CA, Rizvi A, Newman W, Mastali K, et al. Everolimus-eluting stents in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: final 3-year results of the clinical evaluation of the XIENCE V everolimus eluting coronary stent system in the treatment of subjects with de novo native coronary artery lesions trial. Am Heart J. 2013;166(6):1035–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Iqbal J, Serruys PW, Silber S, Kelbaek H, Richardt G, Morel MA, et al. Comparison of zotarolimus- and everolimus-eluting coronary stents: final 5-year report of the RESOLUTE all-comers trial. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2015;8(6):e002230.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Mehran R, Dangas G, Abizaid AS, Mintz GS, Lansky AJ, Satler LF, et al. Angiographic patterns of in-stent restenosis: classification and implications for long-term outcome. Circulation. 1999;100(18):1872–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang BC, Karanasos A, Regar E. OCT demonstrating neoatherosclerosis as part of the continuous process of coronary artery disease. Herz. 2015;40(6):845–54.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Fujii K, Mintz GS, Kobayashi Y, Carlier SG, Takebayashi H, Yasuda T, et al. Contribution of stent underexpansion to recurrence after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation for in-stent restenosis. Circulation. 2004;109(9):1085–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee SW, Lee JY, Ahn JM, Park DW, Han S, Park YK, et al. Comparison of dual versus triple antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent according to stent length (from the pooled analysis of DECLARE trials). Am J Cardiol. 2013;112(11):1738–44.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Authors/Task Force members, Windecker S, Kolh P, et al. 2014 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on myocardial revascularization: The Task Force on Myocardial Revascularization of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) developed with the special contribution of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI). Eur Heart J. 2014;35:2541–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. American College of Cardiology Foundation, American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Levine GN, Bates ER, Blankenship JC, Bailey SR, Bittl JA, et al. ACCF/AHA/SCAI guideline for percutaneous coronary intervention. A report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;58(24):e44–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nakazawa G, Otsuka F, Nakano M, Vorpahl M, Yazdani SK, Ladich E, et al. The pathology of neoatherosclerosis in human coronary implants bare-metal and drug-eluting stents. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;57(11):1314–22.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Tada T, Kadota K, Hosogi S, Miyake K, Ohya M, Amano H, et al. Association between tissue characteristics assessed with optical coherence tomography and mid-term results after percutaneous coronary intervention for in-stent restenosis lesions: a comparison between balloon angioplasty, paclitaxel-coated balloon dilatation, and drug-eluting stent implantation. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015;16(10):1101–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Jang JY, Kim JS, Shin DH, Kim BK, Ko YG, Choi D, et al. Favorable effect of optimal lipid-lowering therapy on neointimal tissue characteristics after drug-eluting stent implantation: qualitative optical coherence tomographic analysis. Atherosclerosis. 2015;242(2):553–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Goto K, Zhao Z, Matsumura M, Dohi T, Kobayashi N, Kirtane AJ, Rabbani LE, Collins MB, Parikh MA, Kodali SK, Leon MB, Moses JW, Mintz GS, Maehara A. Mechanisms and patterns of intravascular ultrasound in-stent restenosis among bare metal stents and first- and second-generation drug-eluting stents. Am J Cardiol. 2015.

  15. Wakabayashi K, Mintz G, Delhaye C, Choi YJ, Doh JH, Ben-Dor I, et al. In vivo virtual histology intravascular ultrasound comparison of neointimal hyperplasia within drug-eluting- versus bare metal stents. J Invasive Cardiol. 2011;23(7):262–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Tocci G, Barbato E, Coluccia R, Modestino A, Pagliaro B, Mastromarino V, Giovannelli F, Berni A, Volpe M. Blood pressure levels at the time of percutaneous coronary revascularization and risk of coronary in-stent restenosis. Am J Hypertens. 2015.

  17. Zhao LP, Xu WT, Wang L, Li H, Shao CL, Gu HB, et al. Influence of insulin resistance on in-stent restenosis in patients undergoing coronary drug-eluting stent implantation after long-term angiographic follow-up. Coron Artery Dis. 2015;26(1):5–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Magalhaes MA, Minha S, Chen F, Torguson R, Omar AF, Loh JP, et al. Clinical presentation and outcomes of coronary in-stent restenosis across 3-stent generations. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2014;7(6):768–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Rathore S, Kinoshita Y, Terashima M, Katoh O, Matsuo H, Tanaka N, et al. A comparison of clinical presentations, angiographic patterns and outcomes of in-stent restenosis between bare metal stents and drug eluting stents. Euro Interv. 2010;5(7):841–6.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Nam CW, Rha SW, Koo BK, Doh JH, Chung WY, Yoon MH, et al. Usefulness of coronary pressure measurement for functional evaluation of drug-eluting stent restenosis. Am J Cardiol. 2011;107(12):1783–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Park SJ, Kim KH, Oh IY, Shin DH, Park KI, Seo MK, et al. Comparison of plain balloon and cutting balloon angioplasty for the treatment of restenosis with drug-eluting stents vs bare metal stents. Circ J. 2010;74(9):1837–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Song HG, Park DW, Kim YH, Ahn JM, Kim WJ, Lee JY, et al. Randomized trial of optimal treatment strategies for in-stent restenosis after drug-eluting stent implantation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;59(12):1093–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Takano M, Yamamoto M, Murakami D, et al. Optical coherence tomography after new scoring balloon angioplasty for in-stent restenosis and de novo coronary lesions. Int J Cardiol. 2010;141:e51–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Singh GD, Armstrong EJ, Laird JR. Femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis: current treatment strategies. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 2014;55(3):325–33.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Byrne R. Intracoronary stenting and angiographic results: optimizing treatment of drug eluting stent in-stent restenosis 4—ISAR-DESIRE 4. Presented at TCT 2015, San Francisco.

  26. O’Brien ER, Glover C, Labinaz M. Acute outcome with the flexicut directional coronary atherectomy catheter for the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis. J Invasive Cardiol. 2001;13(9):618–22.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. vom Dahl J, Dietz U, Haager PK, Silber S, Niccoli L, Buettner HJ, et al. Rotational atherectomy does not reduce recurrent in-stent restenosis: results of the angioplasty versus rotational atherectomy for treatment of diffuse in-stent restenosis trial (ARTIST). Circulation. 2002;105(5):583–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Alfonso F, Sandoval J, Nolte C. Calcified in-stent restenosis: a rare cause of dilation failure requiring rotational atherectomy. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2012;5(1):e1–2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Oliver LN, Buttner PG, Hobson H, Golledge J. A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials assessing drug-eluting stents and vascular brachytherapy in the treatment of coronary artery in- stent restenosis. Int J Cardiol. 2008;126:216–23.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Waksman R, Raizner AE, Yeung AC, Lansky AJ, Vandertie L. Use of localised intracoronary beta radiation in treatment of in-stent restenosis: the INHIBIT randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2002;359:551–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Alli OO, Teirstein PS, Satler L, Sketch Jr MH, Popma JJ, Mauri L, et al. Five-year follow-up of the sirolimus-eluting stents vs vascular brachytherapy for bare metal in-stent restenosis (SISR) trial. Am Heart J. 2012;163(3):438–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Benjo A, Cardoso RN, Collins T, Garcia D, Macedo FY, El-Hayek G, et al. Vascular brachytherapy versus drug-eluting stents in the treatment of in-stent restenosis: a meta-analysis of long-term outcomes. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2015. doi:10.1002/ccd.25998.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Mintz GS, Hoffmann R, Mehran R, Pichard AD, Kent KM, Satler LF, et al. In-stent restenosis: the Washington Hospital Center experience. Am J Cardiol. 1998;81(7A):7E–13.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Alfonso F, Zueco J, Cequier A, Mantilla R, Bethencourt A, López-Minguez JR, et al. A randomized comparison of repeat stenting with balloon angioplasty in patients with in-stent restenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;42(5):796–805.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Alfonso F, Augé JM, Zueco J, Bethencourt A, López-Mínguez JR, Hernández JM, et al. Long-term results (three to five years) of the Restenosis Intrastent: Balloon angioplasty versus elective Stenting (RIBS) randomized study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;46(5):756–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, Hernandez R, Fernandez C, Escaned J, Bañuelos C, et al. Sirolimus-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in patients with in-stent restenosis: results of a pooled analysis of two randomized studies. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2008;72(4):459–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, Hernández R, Bethencourt A, Martí V, López-Mínguez JR, et al. Long-term clinical benefit of sirolimus-eluting stents in patients with in-stent restenosis results of the RIBS-II (Restenosis Intra-stent: Balloon angioplasty vs. elective sirolimus-eluting Stenting) study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008;52(20):1621–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Samady H, Mekonnen G. Drug-eluting balloons: effective and durable treatment for in-stent restenosis. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2013;6(6):577–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Scheller B, Hehrlein C, Bocksch W, Rutsch W, Haghi D, Dietz U, et al. Treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis with a paclitaxel-coated balloon catheter. N Engl J Med. 2006;355(20):2113–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Unverdorben M, Vallbracht C, Cremers B, Heuer H, Hengstenberg C, Maikowski C, et al. Paclitaxel-coated balloon catheter versus paclitaxel-coated stent for the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis. Circulation. 2009;119(23):2986–94.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Indermuehle A, Bahl R, Lansky AJ, Froehlich GM, Knapp G, Timmis A, et al. Drug-eluting balloon angioplasty for in-stent restenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Heart. 2013;99(5):327–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Xu B, Gao R, Wang J, Yang Y, Chen S, Liu B, et al. A prospective, multicenter, randomized trial of paclitaxel-coated balloon versus paclitaxel-eluting stent for the treatment of drug-eluting stent in-stent restenosis: results from the PEPCAD China ISR trial. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2014;7(2):204–11. Large randomized trial comparing DCB and 1st generation stents.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Byrne RA, Neumann FJ, Mehilli J, Pinieck S, Wolff B, Tiroch K, et al. Paclitaxel-eluting balloons, paclitaxel-eluting stents, and balloon angioplasty in patients with restenosis after implantation of a drug-eluting stent (ISAR-DESIRE 3): a randomised, open-label trial. Lancet. 2013;381(9865):461–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Kufner S, Cassese S, Valeskini M, Neumann FJ, Schulz-Schüpke S, Hoppmann P, et al. Long-term efficacy and safety of paclitaxel-eluting balloon for the treatment of drug-eluting stent restenosis: 3-year results of a randomized controlled trial. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2015;8(7):877–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Habara S, Kadota K, Shimada T, Ohya M, Amano H, Izawa Y, et al. Late restenosis after paclitaxel-coated balloon angioplasty occurs in patients with drug-eluting stent restenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;66(1):14–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Scheller B, Fontaine T, Mangner N, Hoffmann S, Bonaventura K, Clever YP, et al. A novel drug-coated scoring balloon for the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis: results from the multi-center randomized controlled PATENT-C first in human trial. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2015. doi:10.1002/ccd.26216.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Miglionico M, Mangiacapra F, Nusca A, Scordino D, Gallo P, Campanale M, Melfi R, Di Sciascio G. Efficacy and safety of paclitaxel-coated balloon estenosis in high-risk patients. Am J Cardiol. 2015. Important paper documenting DCB use in high risk patients.

  48. Kawamoto H, Ruparelia N, Latib A, Miyazaki T, Sato K, Mangieri A, et al. Drug-coated balloons versus second-generation drug-eluting stents for the management of recurrent multimetal-layered in-stent restenosis. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2015;8(12):1586–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Kastrati A, Mehilli J, von Beckerath N, Dibra A, Hausleiter J, Pache J, et al. Sirolimus-eluting stent or paclitaxel-eluting stent vs balloon angioplasty for prevention of recurrences in patients with coronary in-stent restenosis: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005;293(2):165–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, Hernandez R, Bethencourt A, Martí V, López-Mínguez JR, et al. A randomized comparison of sirolimus-eluting stent with balloon angioplasty in patients with in-stent restenosis: results of the Restenosis Intrastent: Balloon Angioplasty Versus Elective Sirolimus-Eluting Stenting (RIBS-II) trial. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006;47(11):2152–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, Cárdenas A, García del Blanco B, García-Touchard A, López-Minguéz JR, et al. A prospective randomized trial of drug-eluting balloons versus everolimus-eluting stents in patients with in-stent restenosis of drug-eluting stents: the RIBS IV Randomized Clinical Trial. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;66(1):23–33. Largest randomized trial comparing EES and DEB in patients with DES-ISR.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, Cárdenas A, García Del Blanco B, Seidelberger B, Iñiguez A, et al. A randomized comparison of drug-eluting balloon versus everolimus-eluting stent in patients with bare-metal stent-in-stent restenosis: the RIBS V Clinical Trial (Restenosis Intra-stent of Bare Metal Stents: paclitaxel-eluting balloon vs. everolimus-eluting stent). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(14):1378–86. Largest randomized trial comparing EES and DEB in patients with BMS-ISR.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Lee JM, Park J, Kang J, Jeon KH, Jung JH, Lee SE, et al. Comparison among drug-eluting balloon, drug-eluting stent, and plain balloon angioplasty for the treatment of in-stent restenosis: a network meta-analysis of 11 randomized, controlled trials. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2015;8(3):382–94. Large meta-analysis examining clinical outcomes in patients with ISR.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Siontis GC, Stefanini GG, Mavridis D, Siontis KC, Alfonso F, Pérez-Vizcayno MJ, et al. Percutaneous coronary interventional strategies for treatment of in-stent restenosis: a network meta-analysis. Lancet. 2015;386(9994):655–64. Large meta-analysis comparing angiographic results of numerous treatment strategies.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Alfonso F, Nuccio J, Cuevas C, Cárdenas A, Gonzalo N, Jimenez-Quevedo P. Treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis with bioabsorbable vascular scaffolds. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt A):2875.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Deora S, Shah S, Pancholy S, Patel T. Bioresorbable vascular scaffold for coronary in-stent restenosis: a novel concept. Indian Heart J. 2014;66(4):459–61.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Pereira-da-Silva T, Patrício L, Cruz Ferreira R. Rotational atherectomy combined with bioresorbable vascular scaffold implantation: a feasible approach for recurrent in-stent restenosis when other therapies failed. J Invasive Cardiol. 2015;27(7):E143–5.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Murphy E, Boyle F. Reducing in-stent restenosis through novel stent flow field augmentation. Cardiovasc Eng Technol. 2012. doi:10.1007/s13239-012-0109-3.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick M. Looser MD.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Patrick M. Looser and Luke K. Kim each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Dr. Feldman has served as a consultant/speakers’ bureau member for Eli Lilly, Daiichi-Sankyo, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Abbott Vascular. Dr. Feldman is a section editor for Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Coronary Artery Disease

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Looser, P.M., Kim, L.K. & Feldman, D.N. In-Stent Restenosis: Pathophysiology and Treatment. Curr Treat Options Cardio Med 18, 10 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-015-0433-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-015-0433-7

Keywords

Navigation