BACKGROUND: Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty(PTCA) is one of the most widely used therapeutic procedures in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. However, acute closure and late restenosis remain a major limitation of PTCA despite extensive efforts to prevent. Coronary artery stents have been proposed as a treatment modality for acute closure and restenosis. We evaluated the initial success rate, complications, the restenosis rate, and the clinical outcomes after coronary artery stenting. METHODS: We implanted 56 stents(Palmaz-Schatz(PS) stent : 38 ; #3.0-14, #3.5-7, #4.0-17, Gianturco-Roubin(GR) stent : 18 ; #2.5-4, #3.0-10, #3.5-1, #4.0-3) in 51 patients(male : 40, mean age : 58+/-1 year). The clinical characteristics of the subjects were unstable angina in 26(51%), stable angina in 2, and myocardial infarction in 23(45%) patients(acute : 18). Follow-up angiography was done at a mean duration of 5.4 month(1-12) after coronary stenting for 34 lesions(61%) of 30 patients. RESULTS: 1) The indications of stenting(n=56) were De novo in 33(59%), bailout procedure in 15(27%), suboptimal result after PTCA in 6, and restenosis after PTCA in 2 stents. The location of lesions were LAD in 24, RCA in 27, and circumflex artery in 5 lesions. Angiographic morphologic characteristics were type B in 38(BI : 3, B2 : 35) and type C in 18 lesions. 2) The angiographic and clinical success rate was 96%(54/56) and 94%(52/56). There were no significant difference in stent modality, lesion site and morphology, and indication of stent. 3) Procedural complications were 1 acute closure which was recanalized by emergency coronary artery bypass graft(CABG), 1 death with subacute closure, 2 dissection, and 5 hemorrhages requiring transfusion. 4) The overall restenosis rate was 26%(9/34). The restenosis rate was reduced significantly in PS stent[PS : 9%(2/22) vs GR : 58%(7/12), P or =3.5mm of stent size[> or =3.5mm : 6%(1/18) vs 3.5mm : 50%(8/16), p 12atm) [High pressure(+) : 7%(1/14) vs High pressure(-) : 40%(8/20), p<0.05]. 5) The restenosis sites were managed with re-PTCA in 4, elective CABG in 1, and medical follow-up in 4 patients. CONCLUSION: Coronary stenting is an effective and safe procedure for the management of coronary artery disease. The PS stent and GR stent are considered as a safe means for bail-out, and the PS stent can reduces the restenosis rate especially.