Technical aspects of the T And small Protrusion (TAP) technique

The T and small protrusion (TAP) technique is a modification of provisional T-stenting aimed at optimising "bail-out" SB stent implantation in bifurcated coronary lesions treated using the "provisional" approach. The main strengths of the TAP stenting technique are: compatibility with 6 Fr guiding catheters, full coverage of the side branch ostium, and facilitation of final kissing balloon inflation. The main drawback of TAP is related to the creation of a single layer stent strut neocarina of variable length. In this paper, we review the technical aspects which should be considered in order to achieve TAP stenting successfully in the case of "bail-out" need for side branch stenting. Furthermore, we report the technical details which may help in the practice of TAP stenting in complex bifurcated lesions with the anticipated high probability of requiring double stenting. Although no large trial has investigated this technique, the clinical results reported so far look promising.