Background. Several studies suggest that repeated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedures at the same site are associated with a progressively increasing risk of further restenosis and that short time intervals between successive procedures are predictive of future restenoses. Methods and Results. We assessed by quantitative coronary angiography the angiographic probability of...

Since the introduction of balloon angioplasty in 1977 by Andreas Grüntzig, the technique has gained widespread acceptance. The popularity of balloon angioplasty lies in the simplicity, safety and relative patient friendliness of this technique for treating coronary obstructions. Many other devices (laser, atherectomy, suction, ultrasound etc.) have been introduced, most using balloon angioplast...

BACKGROUND Re-stenosis after percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is related to clinical and angiographic features. AIM To describe the clinical and angiographic characteristic of our patients with coronary cardiopathy subjected to PTCA and the predictor factors for re-stenosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS We gathered the clinical and angiographic characteristics of all patients who underwent ...

Restenosis after coronary interventions was referred to as the “soft underbelly” of angioplasty by Richard Myler, MD, 30 years ago. However, restenosis was not demonstrated to be significantly related to a safety risk but was rather an “inconvenient truth,” which was reflected primarily by disruption of the patient’s schedule and increased costs. For the operator it provided an opportunity to p...

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using both balloon angioplasty and coronary stents has markedly reduced adverse cardiac events in patients with ischemic heart disease. Drug-eluting stents (DES) could further decrease the incidence of target vessel revascularization (TVR) to 5%–10% compared to bare-metal stents (BMS) or balloon angioplasty alone.1) Despite its clinical benefits, stent f...

Acute coronary artery occlusion complicates 2-12% of the balloon angioplasty procedures, and despite repeat angioplasty, emergency surgical revascularization is often necessary. We report our initial experience with the emergency implantation of endoluminal stents for acute vessel closure after coronary balloon angioplasty. Nine patients received one stent, and two patients received two stents ...

Primary percutaneus coronary intervention, performed in a timely manner, is currently the standard of care for patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Numerous clinical trials have shown the superiority of balloon angioplasty over thrombolytic therapy in decreasing the composite endpoint of death, reinfarction, and stroke in patients with STEMI [1]. Nonetheless, the effi...

AIMS We explored the role of microcirculation integrity following the chronic occlusion of an infarct-related artery to assess the behaviour of collateral circulation during and after reperfusion by coronary angioplasty METHODS AND RESULTS Eighteen patients with a proximally occluded left anterior descending artery and firm evidence of intercoronary collateral circulation were studied with se...

disease. N Engl J Med 2009;360:961–972. 7. King SB III, Kosinski AS, Guyton RA, Lembo NJ, Wentraub W for the Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial (EAST) Investigators. Eight-year mortality in the Emory Angioplasty Versus Surgery Trial (EAST). J Am Coll Cardiol 2000;35: 1116–1121. 8. Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) investigators. Comparison of coronary bypass surgery ...

We studied 25 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) to determine the association of sympathovagal imbalance and the outcome of coronary angioplasty. We examined the profiles of heart rate variability (HRV) using echocardiography, stress thallium scanning and radionuclide angiography before, immediately after and 1 month after the procedure. Coronary angiog...