An 85 year old man with unstable angina pectoris was treated successfully with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty supported by cardiopulmonary bypass and intra-aortic balloon pumping. Coronary angiography had shown stenoses in both the left main stem and left anterior descending coronary arteries. Drug treatment had been ineffective and he was too old for coronary arterial bypass gr...

band, increasing from less than 1,000 per year in 1979–1981 to more than 300,000 per year in 1991. This was similar to the annual number of bypass operations . The number of annual catheterizations has now grown to approximately 1.4 million, with one of three patients who undergo diagnostic cardiac catheterization being referred for coronary angioplasty, compared with one of four being referred...

Over the last two decades, a better understanding of the blood coagulation and platelet function, the introduction of effective pharmacological agents, increased use of coronary angiography, the development of advanced percutaneous techniques such as, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and coronary stenting have made a dramatic change in the acute management of myocardial in...

Two years after an orthotopic cardiac transplant a 28 year old man was found to have clinically significant stenosis of the right coronary artery at routine coronary angiography. This lesion was accompanied by a perfusion defect on exercise thallium scintigraphy. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of the lesion improved the angiographic appearance of the stenosis and reduced the exe...

Myocardial infarction is rare in pregnancy. A 30 year old white primigravida had an anterior infarct at 20 weeks' gestation, which was followed by troublesome angina. Coronary angiography showed a tight stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. This was treated successfully by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.