USEFULNESS OF DIRECTIONAL CORONARY ATHERECTOMY IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTEANTERIOR MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

In acute myocardial infarction (AMI), early, complete, and sustained r estoration of blood flow in the occluded coronary artery can salvage m yocardium at risk and improves survival.(1) Reperfusion of the occlude d coronary artery with emergency coronary balloon angioplasty can be a chieved in >90% of patients, but the incidence of reocclusion remains considerably high, occurring in >10% of patients.(2) Recently, several reports describing directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) in AMI have been published.(3-6) This study tests the hypothesis that DCA is a fe asible reperfusion therapy and reduces the reocclusion rate in patient s with anterior wall AMI.