IVUS-Guided Bail-Out Stent Implantation for Iatrogenic Aortocoronary Dissection: A Case Report

This single case report describes a rescue: a patient suffered an iatrogenic aortocoronary dissection — a tear caused during a catheter procedure — and the operators used intravascular ultrasound to guide an emergency stent.

Under IVUS guidance, they identified and sealed the entry tear and resolved the intramural hematoma without complications, avoiding the need for surgery. It illustrates IVUS as a problem-solving tool in a dangerous procedural emergency, letting the operator see the true vessel lumen amid a confusing dissection.

As a case report, this is the most preliminary form of evidence — one patient, no comparison, a description of technique. Its value is instructional for interventional cardiologists facing a rare complication, not a finding that generalizes.

We rate the evidence limited by design. It is a competent technical vignette of interest to a narrow specialist audience, with no bearing on cardiovascular prevention or the decisions most patients face.