ABSTRACT
Dislodgement of a stent from the delivery balloon during the deployment procedure is a rare complication of percutaneous coronary revascularization that may result in systemic or intracoronary stent embolization. While systemic embolization may cause severe cerebrovascular events,1 intracoronary stent embolization has a high risk of coronary thrombosis and myocardial infarction.2-4 However, stent dislodgement is not necessarily followed by stent loss. The operator still has an opportunity to retrieve the stent from the arterial system of the patient. It is therefore appropriate to define stent separation as detachment of the stent from the balloon followed by successful stent retrieval, and to define stent loss as detachment of the stent from the balloon without stent retrieval.
