PTCA IN CHRONIC TOTAL OCCLUSIONS - CLINICAL-RESULTS WITH A WIRE SYSTEM

The authors discuss the use of a wire system in chronic total occlusio n, noting the factors that affect primary success and the clinical res ults. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was performed on 29 patients with single-vessel disease. The mean age of the patients w as fifty-three + three years. The authors used routine angioplastic te chniques with the wire system. Fifteen of the lesions were functional and the others were in total anatomic occlusion. The primary success r ate was 69%. Primary success was 88%, 48%, and 75%, in the left anteri or descending, left circumflex, and right coronary artery, respectivel y. In 4 cases the wire did not cross the occlusion. One patient requir ed direct-current cardioversion for ventricular fibrillation during th e procedure, and 1 patient sustained a non-Q wave myocardial infarctio n following the procedure. There were no deaths.