Acute embolic occlusion of the intracranial internal carotid bifurcation is associated with a poor prognosis. Recanalization rates of this lesion with intravenous or intraarterial thrombolysis are exceedingly low. We describe the use of balloon angioplasty after failed thrombolysis to achieve immediate recanalization of acute carotid T occlusions in two patients. At 1-month follow-up, both pati...

R estenosis is a significant limitation of catheter-based treatment of coronary artery disease. Early in the development of balloon angioplasty, restenosis was quite common, occurring in 30% to 40% of patients (1). Following successful angioplasty, patients who had become symptomfree developed the same symptoms they had experienced prior to the intervention. Repeat angiography demonstrated a re...

OBJECTIVES The E-Five registry was designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) (Medtronic CardioVascular, Santa Rosa, California) for the treatment of coronary artery stenosis across a wide range of patients treated in real-world clinical practice settings. BACKGROUND Early clinical trials with the Endeavor ZES have demonstrated low rates ...

OBJECTIVES Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) has been detected in tissue from coronary atherosclerotic vascular lesions and may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the effect of prior C. pneumoniae infection on coronary intimal hyperplasia after stent implantation and on coronary microvascular function is unknown. METHODS Seventy-three patients with stable angina p...

BACKGROUND Treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions is a complex problem. METHODS This retrospective single-center study included all consecutive patients with PCI of coronary bifurcations with stent covering of the side branch (SB) between January 2008 - August 2011. RESULTS Our study group (n = 98) was group A (n = 64, 65.3%) and group B (n = 34, 34.7%). Mean follow-up was 14.1 (group A)...

OBJECTIVES To study the safety and short and intermediate term efficacy of drug-eluting balloon (DEB) in the treatment of de-novo and in-stent restenotic coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS Of the total 100 patients so far enrolled in a prospective DEB registry using a Paclitaxel-coated balloon at our hospital, 36 patients were studied for short and intermediate term i.e. 12 months outcome...

BACKGROUND It is known that there is an association between elevated total plasma homocysteine level and restenosis after percutaneous coronary angioplasty. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of lowering plasma homocysteine levels on the rate of restenosis after stent-percutaneous coronary angioplasty. METHODS Folic acid (1 mg) or placebo was administered to 200 patients (mean +/- SD age of 5...

BACKGROUND Provisional stenting is effective for anatomic simple bifurcation lesions. Double kissing crush stenting reduces the 1-year rate of target lesion revascularization. This study aimed to investigate the 5-year clinical results of the DKCRUSH-II study (Randomized Study on Double Kissing Crush Technique Versus Provisional Stenting Technique for Coronary Artery Bifurcation Lesions). MET...