We describe a patient suffering from late stent thrombosis in a paclitaxel-eluting stent which had an underexpanded ring due to the three-hundred-sixty-degree circumferential calcified plaque. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) revealed rotational atherectomy could success-fully ablate both the metallic ring and the calcified ring. The ablated segment was scaffolded with a new paclitaxel-eluting stent, well ex-panded and documented by IVUS. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of stent ablation for an unexpanded paclitaxel-eluting stent. From the Medline index, there were only six case reports of stent ablation. We review and summarize the operation details of stent ablation from these reports.

Entrapment of the burr within calcified lesion is an uncommon, but serious complication during rotational atherectomy and usually needs surgical retrieval. We report a case series of this complication and also review the possible mechanisms, such as kokesi phenomenon or insufficient pecking motion with decreased rotational speed. We also review the potential techniques ever proposed to rescue this complica-tion percutaneously, including simple manual traction, balloon dilation to release the trap, snaring the burr as distal as possible for forceful local traction and wedging the burr with a child catheter to facilitate retrieval. Gentle pecking motion of the burr for sufficient ablation and shortening the run less than 15 s may avoid such complications. Interventional cardiologists using the rotablator should be familiar with the tips and tricks to avoid and rescue this complication.