OBJECTIVES To determine the relative degree of revascularization obtained with bypass surgery versus angioplasty in a randomized trial of patients with multivessel disease requiring revascularization (Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation [BARI]), one-year catheterization was performed in 15% of patients. BACKGROUND Complete revascularization has been correlated with improved out...

Although immediate and late changes in coronary stenoses after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) have been reported, most investigators have employed qualitative or semiquantitative techniques to analyze the angiograms. Such data is not optimal because of considerable interobserver variability and the use of relative instead of absolute changes in lesion geometry. Analysis i...

BACKGROUND Is it safe to discharge patients from hospital on the same day as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)? The hypothesis tested was that careful pre and post angioplasty selection of patients can identify a group that is at very low risk of postprocedural complications and that these patients may be discharged on the day of the procedure. METHODS 63 patients undergoi...

In concept, mechanical interventions are attractive options for treating acute myocardial infarction with or without preceding thrombolysis: rapid reperfusion of the infarct-related artery can be achieved in the vast majority of cases, and the underlying coronary lesion is treated at the same time. Various strategies have been extensively investigated. When performed in specialized centres, dir...

Most patients in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergo emergent coronary angiography (CAG). However, when to analyze lipoprotein profiles in AMI is not clear. To determine whether lipoprotein profiles change during catheterization, we measured serum lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations in 65 patients (51 men and 14 women) before and after catheterization. Heparin was injected at 50 units...

D espite innovative new techniques in percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) during the past 10 years, restenosis rates continue to occur at about 30% in subtotal lesions,' about 50% in chronic total occlusions,2 and up to 80% in saphenous vein bypass grafts.3 Although mortality remains acceptably low, urgent bypass surgery after unsuccessful angioplasty continues to be necessary...

Between 1981 and 1988, 107 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures, including repeat PTCA, were performed in 84 patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Fifty-nine patients underwent a first angioplasty of the vein graft alone, and 25 underwent a first PTCA of the graft and one or more native vessels. Seventeen patients underwent two procedures, fo...

OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty performed on coronary stenoses that have demonstrated rapid angiographic progression would be associated with a high risk of restenosis. BACKGROUND High rates of restenosis have been documented after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of unstable lesions and of lesions that recur rapidly after a success...