Use of SafeCut Balloon for treatment of in-stent restenosis of a previously underexpanded sirolimus-eluting stent with a heavily calcified plaque.

Calcified lesions are a cause of stent underexpansion which significantly increases the subsequent risks of in-stent restenosis and thrombosis, even when drug-eluting stents are used. In this report, we describe a novel balloon catheter (SafeCut) that enabled adequate dilatation of in-stent restenosis in a previously underexpanded sirolimus-eluting stent that was unresponsive to high-pressure inflation using a conventional balloon after aggressive rotational atherectomy to treat a heavily calcified plaque.