EFFECTS OF PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY BALLOON COMPLIANCE ON ANGIOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES

The effect of balloon compliance on the safety and outcome of percutan eous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is controversial. It has been proposed that PTCA balloons constructed from compliant polmers c ontribute to an increased risk of angiographic coronary dissection and potentially to adverse clinic-al results, To determine the effect of balloon material compliance on PTCA outcome, 1,076 PTCA procedures usi ng balloons differing in compliance characteristics (polyethylene tera phthalate [noncompliant] polyethylene [intermediately compliant] or po lyolefin-copolymer [compliant]) were retrospectively analyzed. Baselin e clinical, angiographic and procedural variables were similar among t he 3 balloon material groups. In the noncompliant, intermediately comp liant and compliant groups, the occurrence rates of intimal tears (10, 14 and 10%, respectively; p = NS for all comparisons) and coronary di ssection (7, 9 and 8%, respectively; all p = NS) were also equivalent. The rates of acute occlusion, myocardial infarction, emergency bypass surgery and death were low and similar, and likewise unaffected by ba lloon material. The results provide evidence that the occurrence of ad verse outcomes after PTCA is unrelated to balloon material compliance and support the clinical safety of balloons constructed of compliant o r noncompliant polymers when used for appropriate coronary interventio ns.