BACKGROUND Balloon advancement and dilation through chronic total occlusion segment could be challenging in some cases after successful wire crossing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of Tornus catheter (Asahi Intecc; Aichi, Japan) in percutaneous coronary intervention of chronic total occlusion in hard or balloon-uncrossable chronic total occlusion. METHODS The p...

Recanalization of coronary artery chronic total occlusions is a rapidly developing domain of percutaneous coronary interventions requiring considerable operator expertise. Tackling any aorto-ostial lesion with previously implanted stent that protrudes into aorta presents anatomical and technical challenge significantly reducing procedure success rates and is an obstacle when considering antegra...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion lesions is technically difficult despite equipment advances. Changes in electrocardiographic patterns, such as Q and T waves, during chronic total occlusion can provide information about procedural success and myocardial viability. In this study, we investigated clinical, electrocardiographic, and procedura...

The current study describes the histopathology of angiographic chronic total occlusions including residual lumen patency, intimal plaque composition, patterns of neovascular channel formation, intimal plaque calcification, and cellular inflammation, analyzed according to occlusion duration and intimal plaque type (fibrocalcific vs. lipid laden vs. mixed). Histologic findings are related to prev...

Chronic total occlusion of left main coronary artery is a very rare angiographic finding as majority of these patients do not survive long enough to undergo coronary angiography. We describe a patient with angiographic findings of chronic total occlusion of left main coronary artery with left coronary circulation collateralized from right coronary artery.

BACKGROUND In the setting of primary percutaneous coronary intervention, patients with a chronic total occlusion in a non-infarct related artery were recently identified as a high-risk subgroup. It is unclear whether ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients with a chronic total occlusion in a non-infarct related artery should undergo additional percutaneous coronary intervention of the chron...

During percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO), prolonged procedures increase the risk of excessive radiation exposure. These situations harbor a major concern to protect patients and personnel in the cardiac interventional laboratory (CCL). Important questions regarding radiation safety for interventional cardiologists performing PCI for CTO lesions are disc...

Recanalisation of chronic total occlusion (CTO) is still a challenge in invasive cardiology, requiring operator experience, equipment, and techniques dedicated to CTO. Due to difficulties in crossing the lesion by wire and by balloon (both responsible for 98% of the procedure's failures), many helpful techniques have been described. We report the case of both Tornus system and anchor technique ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Percutaneous revascularization of chronic total coronary artery occlusion is a technical challenge and has a lower success rate than other angioplasty procedures. Identification of predictors of failure could lead to better selection of patients with the greatest possibility of success. In this study, we investigate the multidetector computed tomography features asso...

A retrograde approach through the collateral channels is considered to improve the success rate of percutaneous coronary intervention for coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO). Various kinds of strategies and techniques are required to improve the success rate of this novel approach. We describe a case in which a CTO was successfully recanalized by the retrograde approach, using a new anchorin...