Treatment of Bifurcation Coronary Artery Disease with the Dedicated Cappella Sideguard® Stent

Bifurcation coronary lesions represent a significant proportion of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures and are often technically challenging with both lower procedural success rates and higher adverse event rates than those observed in non-bifurcation lesions. Conventional techniques used to treat bifurcation lesions, including provisional stenting and various two-stent approaches, have several shortcomings. Dedicated bifurcation stents such as the Cappella Sideguard® have been developed to overcome the problems associated with the current available techniques. This review focuses on the utility of the nitinol Sideguard stent in the treatment of bifurcation lesions and discusses the benefits of its trumpet-shaped design, self-expanding properties and low-profile delivery system. Treatment of bifurcation lesions using the Sideguard stent is straightforward and not subject to some of the limitations associated with conventional PCI techniques. Several trials are currently on the way to assess the safety and clinical efficacy of this very promising stent platform.