We evaluated the outcome of bailout coronary stenting in acute myocardial infarction. Fifty patients (35 men, mean age 60 plusmn; 12) with acute myocardial infarction consecutively underwent bailout stenting after primary and rescue coronary angioplasty (n=41 and 9, respectively). Cardiogenic shock was present in six patients, and 17 others had contraindications to thrombolysis. Stent implantation was successful in 49/50 patients. The antithrombotic regimen combined heparin, aspirin, and ticlopidine. One patient had symptomatic stent closure. Predischarge angiography in 41/44 survivors showed widely patent stents in 40/41 patients. Six patients (4 of whom had been admitted with cardiogenic shock) died in the hospital. During acute myocardial infarction, bailout stenting can achieve high TIMI grade 3 coronary patency (here, 92%), and low acute stent closure rates (here, 2%). However, in-hospital mortality remained high, at nearly 10%, mainly due to the severe risk profile in this patient subset.