Patients who undergo percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for coronary artery disease are at risk for recurrence at the site of the procedure. Placement of stents as an adjunct to PTCA is one strategy to reduce recurrence. The use of various techniques to apply intracoronary radiation through local application of catheters or placement of radioactive stents (also known as intra...

This report describes a digital subtraction angiographic technique used to simultaneously display the proximal and distal segments of three totally occluded coronary arteries in two patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The advantage of this technique over routine cineangiography for PTCA of total occlusions is illustrated.

ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the result of the abrupt occlusion of an epicardial coronary artery. Timely performance of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has become the treatment of choice in affected patients. Mechanical reperfusion with implantation of drug-eluting stents (DES) has been associated with improved safety and efficacy compared with balloon ...

BACKGROUND Accelerated allograft atherosclerosis is the main cause of death of cardiac transplant recipients after the first year after transplantation. Because no medical therapy is known to prevent or retard graft atherosclerosis and transplantation is associated with a shortened allograft survival, alternative, palliative therapy with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) has...

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is an abnormality of the coronary anatomy and might be a variant of the Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). The CAE can cause angina pectoris and even MI with vasospasm, dissection, or thrombus in patients without CAD. Isolated CAE is defined as CAE without significant coronary artery stenosis. The mechanisms responsible for ectasia formation are not clearly known. Howe...

We report the case of a rare anomaly of the right coronary artery originated from the middle third of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery with a proximal atheromatous obstructive lesion immediately before the emergence of the right coronary artery (RCA). The patient underwent successful angioplasty with stent implantation in the left anterior descending coronary artery. Only 7 ca...

Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has long surpassed coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) as the most common revascularization strategy in patients with coronary artery disease [1], left main coronary artery disease (LMCD) is regarded a relative contraindication to PCI [2]. This lack of enthusiasm was related to studies showing that although balloon angioplasty was effective i...