Objective To investigate the impact of superficial calcification of coronary target lesions on the procedures and outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods A total of 61 consecutive patients with 61 target lesions who underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to determine the characteristics of lesions before PCI and stent implantation in our department from May to December 2012 were enrolled in this study. According to the results of IVUS, these lesions were divided into 2 groups, superficial calcified group and non-superficial calcified group. The intervention procedures, clinic and imaging features after PCI were compared between the two groups. Results There were 29 lesions in superficial calcified group and 32 in non-superficial calcified group. The stenosis area was higher in superficial calcified group than in the control group [(75.70±7.11)% vs (68.78±5.56)%, P＝0.019]. The postoperative stent symmetry and expansion were significantly lower in the superficial calcified group than in non-superficial calcified group [(0.85±0.06) vs (0.90±0.02), P＝0.016; (0.68±0.14) vs (0.82±0.10), P＝0.021, respectively]. The minimus stent diameter [(2.51±0.43) vs (2.76±0.29)mm], minimum stent area [(5.86±1.82) vs (6.73±1.40)mm2) and relative lumen gain (1.26±0.68) vs (1.37±0.72)] were also tended to be smaller in superficial calcified group than in the non-superficial calcified group, though without significant difference. There was no difference in the procedural complications incidence. No major adverse cardiac event was seen in this cohort of patients. Conclusion Compared with non-superficial calcification of coronary target lesions, the superficial calcification may interfere the appropriate stent symmetry and optimal stent expansion.