A rare and avoidable complication of percutaneous coronary intervention: stent trapped in the left main coronary artery and its unusual treatment.

Entrapment of catheter components during cardiac interventions is rare but can cause life-threatening complications and sometimes requires emergency surgical treatment. This case study describes a 52-year-old male who had unstable angina pectoris and underwent stent insertion into the left circumflex artery. Unfortunately, the coronary stent and the balloon catheter were trapped while crossing the angulated segment between the left circumflex and left main coronary artery. The stent catheter was removed by an unusual transcatheter approach. The interventional cardiologist should keep in mind that angulated segments may reduce the successful rate of coronary stenting and contribute to the stent entrapment complication.