Results and long-term predictors of adverse clinical events after elective percutaneous interventions on unprotected left main coronary artery.

BACKGROUND The safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention of de novo lesions in unprotected left main coronary arteries remains an unresolved issue. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed 67 consecutive patients treated with the following devices: 39 with stents, 12 with rotational atherectomy plus stents, 13 with directional coronary atherectomy plus stents (a total of 64 patients were treated with stents), and 3 patients with directional coronary atherectomy only. The reference vessel size was 3.78+/-0.73 mm and lesion length was 6.6+/-3.0 mm. In-hospital complications were 2 coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) (3.0%), 2 Q-wave myocardial infarctions (MIs) (3.0%), and 3 non-Q-wave MIs (4.5%); there were no deaths. The estimated cardiac survival at 3 years was 91%. The cardiac mortality rate was higher in patients with Parsonnet score >15 versus < or =15 (21.4% versus 4.2%, P=0.02) at 3 years. The independent covariate of cardiac death was preserved left ventricular ejection fraction; for combined cardiac events (cardiac death, MI, repeat revascularization) it was large reference vessel size. Follow-up angiography at 5+/-2 months in 85% of eligible patients revealed 31.4% restenosis. Extending the follow-up to 31+/-23 months (19 patients with follow-up beyond 3 years) the cumulative event rates were 11 deaths (16.4%), 8 of them cardiac (11.9%), 2 (3.0%) MI, and 16 (23.9%) repeat revascularizations (CABG in 5 patients). CONCLUSIONS Elective percutaneous coronary intervention of de novo lesions in left main coronary arteries is feasible, with low procedural risk. The long-term follow-up revealed a high rate of angiographic restenosis and repeat revascularization, with a relatively high incidence of cardiac death. Reference vessel size and left ventricular function are the most important predictors of favorable follow-up.