INCIDENCE AND TREATMENT OF ELASTIC RECOIL OCCURRING IN THE 15 MINUTESFOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

This study was performed (1) to assess the incidence and magnitude of elastic recoil occurring within 15 minutes of successful coronary angi oplasty, and (2) to determine the effect of subsequent additional ball oon inflations on coronary luminal diameter in patients displaying sub stantial recoil, The coronary angiograms of 50 consecutive patients wh o underwent a successful percutaneous transluminol coronary angioplast y were analyzed using computer-assisted quantitative analysis. The pat ients were divided into 2 groups based on the magnitude of early elast ic recoil following angioplasty: those with less than or equal to 10% (group I, n = 30) and those with >10% (group II, n = 20) loss of minim al luminal diameter as assessed by comparing the angiogram obtained im mediately after successful angioplasty with that obtained 15 minutes l ater, The 2 groups were similar in clinical, angiographic, and procedu ral characteristics, Of the 20 group II subjects, 18 (90%) underwent r epeat balloon dilatations, and 2 patients (10%) had no further interve ntion, After additional balloon inflations were performed in these 18 patients, 16 (90%) had a final result with <10% loss of minimal lumina l diameter 15 minutes later, In conclusion, elastic recoil 15 minutes after apparently successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angiopl asty is frequent, occurring in approximately 40% of patients, and is a ttenuated in 90% of subjects with additional balloon inflations. The r esultant larger lumen diameter may exert a salutary effect on long-ter m outcome.