Report of the Joint ISFC / WHO * Task Force on Coronary Angioplasty

The Council on Clinical Cardiology of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology has formed several task forces with the World Health Organization in recent years to provide guidelines and recommendations where confusion exists but there is sufficient experience for conclusions to be generalized by international experts. In November 1984, the council recommended that a task force be formed for coronary angioplasty. This task force has described current indications and interpretation of results, and made recommendations regarding training, equipment, and preangioplasty and postangioplasty management. The council has also generated guidelines for coronary angioplasty that appear to be internationally acceptable. The task force recognizes that these optimal requirements may not always be applicable at an institutional or local level. The task force also recognizes that indications and techniques of coronary angioplasty continue to evolve and that these recommendations should be reassessed periodically. Finally, coronary angioplasty represents only one of several alternatives in management of patients with coronary artery disease.