The histopathological appearances of seven coronary arteries obtained from four patients after repeated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty were analysed. A complex picture was found; typically there were ruptured atherosclerotic plaques, plaque dissection, and a fibrous tissue response. The histopathological appearance of older and more recent fibrous lesions was different. Older le...

A 61-year-old male had a successful left total knee arthroplasty but one year later developed a deep diphtheroides infection of the joint following femoral percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty without antimicrobial prophylaxis. Diphtheroides is an uncommon organism to infect a joint replacement and it has not been reported in the medical literature previously to our knowledge. There i...

We report on a patient suffering a branch retinal artery occlusion immediately following percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Balloon angioplasty may produce ocular embolic events consistent with previously reported neurological complaints.

The coronary steal syndrome is an uncommon but well recognised occurrence following coronary artery by-pass surgery using the internal mammary artery. We report a case of coronary steal successfully treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of a subclavian stenosis.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (angioplasty) is superior to medical treatment in non-acute coronary artery disease. DESIGN Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. SETTING Randomised controlled trials conducted worldwide and published between 1979 and 1998. PARTICIPANTS 953 patients treated with angioplasty and 951 with medical treatmen...

Objective: To compare the costs of coronary bypass surgery (CBS) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTA) over a one-year follow up. Method: Eight-six patients were submitted to 87 CBS and 240 patients to 267 PTA, between October 2003 and April 2004. The mean age of the two groups was 62 years. The CBS group was submitted to a mean of 3.7 bypasses/patient, using 96.5% of arteria...

In 1959, Dr. Mason Sones reported on selective coronary arteriography, a technique that quickly became the standard for precise diagnosis of coronary artery disease. In the early 1960s Drs. Dotter and Judkins introduced the original concept of using a catheter to dilate an atherosclerotic obstruction in a peripheral artery. Now, almost 2 decades later, the selective coronary catheter is being p...