BACKGROUND Constrictive remodeling plays a prominent role in restenosis after balloon angioplasty, but its regulation remains unclear. Because endothelial dysfunction and changes in extracellular matrix have been reported after angioplasty, this study was designed to simultaneously evaluate endothelial function and collagen and elastin changes after restenosis and arterial remodeling. METHODS...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the initial outcome and incidence of restenosis of angioplasty of internal mammary artery grafts in a retrospective study. METHODS The study population consisted of 46 patients (48 lesions) who underwent first balloon angioplasty within the internal mammary artery graft. Most (37/48) were at the distal anastomosis. A few (8/48) were in the graft body. Six patients with t...

The hypothesis that saphenous vein patch angioplasty protects against early postoperative restenosis and thrombosis-occlusion was tested by comparing the clinical outcome and carotid artery status of 100 carotid endarterectomies with and 100 without saphenous vein patch angioplasty performed by a single surgeon over a 30-month period. The patient population, selection, perioperative management,...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Percutaneous coronary intervention, despite being effective for coronary revascularization, causes in-stent restenosis due to neointimal hyperplasia in a large number of patients. The renin-angiotensin system is involved in neointimal hyperplasia. This study sought to evaluate seven gene polymorphisms of key renin-angiotensin system components, including angiotensinogen...

OBJECTIVE To report on the short-term and long-term results of patients who underwent a third coronary balloon angioplasty for a second restenosis and to identify the correlates of a third clinical restenosis. DESIGN A retrospective analysis of clinical, angiographic, and procedure related variables of a consecutive series of patients. PATIENTS 62 patients (mean (range) age 53 (31-72) years...

In the era of drug-eluting stents (DESs), the ability of clinicians to predict which patients have a low risk of coronary restenosis following bare-metal stent (BMS) implantion is likely to be of benefit. The study population consisted of 2,711 patients who underwent BMS implantation in 3,770 lesions between 1995 and 2004. With clinical and 6 month follow-up angiographic data, we retrospectivel...

Since the introduction of percutaneous coronary balloon angioplasty, restenosis has remained the most challenging problem facing interventional cardiologists. Stenting has reduced the need for clinically driven repeat revascularization, but has far from eliminated it. As early as 1989, intravascular brachytherapy was proposed as a means to ameliorate the proliferative component of restenosis af...

Restenosis has been the major therapeutic challenge of interventional cardiology over the past two decades. Andreas Grüentzig reported that restenosis occurred in 30% of his initial patient population (1). Since then, the number of patients developing restenosis has increased, largely because of the treatment of more complex cases. In the early to mid-1990s, coronary stents were introduced, and...

BACKGROUND Previously undiagnosed diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and insulin resistance are common in patients with acute myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease (CHD) and might be involved in early restenosis after stent implantation. To evaluate whether markers of insulin resistance syndrome, including leptin, and endothelial dysfunction are related to increased rate of early ...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the influence of elevated homocysteine plasma levels and 2 polymorphisms, 677C/T and 1298A/C, of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene on the risk of restenosis after stenting in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Homocysteine levels and MTHFR genotypes were determined in 800 consecutive patients treated with coronar...