EARLY RESULTS OF PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTIONS ON CHRONIC TOTAL OCCLUSION

Authors

Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background- PTCA has been perfomed for more than 25 years as a treatment for coronary artery disease and now exceeds the annual volume of CABG. The first reported PTCA of a total occlusion was in 1982. Procedural success and restenosis rates have gradually improved since then.
Methods-We studied 150 patients who underwent PTCA for recanalization of total occluded coronary artery from 2000 to 2003. The mean age of the subjects was 25-67 years. The locations of total occlusions were 50% in LAD, 38% in RCA and 12% in LCX. 65% of the patients had single vessel disease.
Results:The success rate Was 65%, and stenting was done for 85% of the patients.
Conclusion- It is now recognized that opening the chronic total occlusions of coronary arteries has proven benefits for patients,including an improvement in global and regional LV function, exercise capacity and reduced need for late CABG (by 50%). Angioplasty of total occlusions seems to be a safe and effective procedure in selected patients