VESSEL RECONSTRUCTION IN TOTAL CORONARY OCCLUSIONS WITH A LONG SUBINTIMAL WIRE PATHWAY - USE OF MULTIPLE STENTS UNDER GUIDANCE OF INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND

A frequent cause of failure of the recanalization of a total coronary occlusion is a subintimal pathway of the guide wire, Three cases of oc cluded right coronary arteries are presented in which a distal reentry into the true vessel lumen was achieved, Intravascular ultrasound was used to locate the exit and reentry of the guide wire, and to plan th e position of multiple stents for the coverage of this subintimal path way, In all cases antegrade flow to the distal coronary bed was restor ed. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.