In trying to explain how balloon angioplasty relieved coronary narrowing, Andreas Gruentzig often displayed a photograph of footprints in fresh snow. He proposed that balloon expansion resulted in gentle, uniform plaque compression. Subsequent histological examination in the porcine coronary model and of postmortem and ultrasound findings in humans indicated more traumatic effects of angioplast...

Transcatheter treatments for coarctation of the aorta include balloon angioplasty and stent implantation. However, balloon angioplasty has its limitations and may be associated with complications, such as, recoarctation, dissection, and aneurysm formation, in adult patients. Bare metal stent implantation has offered an alternative during the last decade or so, but covered stents have been used ...

Although it is commonly believed that ischemia does not develop during coronary intervention in patients with rich collateral circulation to the target vessel, ST changes are often observed, the study group comprised 40 consecutive patients who underwent elective percutaneous coronary angioplasty and who had rich collateral vessels to the target lesions. None had side branches in the target ves...

Objective: to evaluate whether systemic administration of cilostazol reduces neointimal hyperplasia in iliac arteries of pigs submitted to balloon catheter angioplasty. Methods: twenty pigs underwent angioplasty with a 6x40 mm balloon catheter in the right common iliac artery, guided by Doppler ultrasound. The animals were randomized into two groups: group 1 (n=10), which received 50mg cilostaz...

An autoperfusion balloon catheter was developed to allow passive myocardial perfusion during inflation through a central lumen and multiple side holes in the shaft proximal and distal to the balloon. We report its safety and efficacy in 11 patients undergoing elective angioplasty to a single coronary lesion. Each lesion was dilated three times with the autoperfusion inflation bracketed between ...

BACKGROUND Considerable controversy exists regarding the choice of balloon used for performing angioplasty as treatment of cerebral vasospasm associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage. OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of compliant and noncompliant balloons on angiographic and clinical outcomes among patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage-related cerebral vasospasm. METHODS Consecutive patient...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this trial was to compare cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA) with conventional balloon angioplasty (i.e., percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty [PTCA]) for the treatment of patients with coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR). BACKGROUND Retrospective studies suggest CBA might be superior to conventional PTCA in the treatment of ISR. METHODS The Restenosis Cutting ...

BACKGROUND The optimal therapy for in-stent restenosis (ISR) is controversial. We evaluated three different strategies for the treatment of in-stent restenosis: cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA), paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty (PEBA) and cutting balloon followed by paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty (CB+PEBA). METHODS Forty-five coronary arteries in 45 mini-pigs underwent oversize...

An autoperfusion balloon catheter was developed to allow passive myocardial perfusion during inflation through a central lumen and multiple side holes in the shaft proximal and distal to the balloon. We report its safety and efficacy in 11 patients undergoing elective angioplasty to a single coronary lesion. Each lesion was dilated three times with the autoperfusion inflation bracketed between ...

INTRODUCTION Quantitative angiographic assessment after balloon angioplasty is a poor predictor of immediate and long-term outcome. However, the measurement of blood flow velocity during angioplasty has been proved clinically useful. AIMS To analyse the value of the maximal stenotic flow velocity and the presence of stenotic flow velocity acceleration (aSV) for the long-term outcome after bal...