Coronary stents in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction: Hospital and long term results.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risks and benefits, immediate and at long term, of coronary angioplasty associated with stent implantation i n patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction. It was a retrospective study in which all patients with left ventricular ejection fractions 35% w ho underwent angioplasty between December 1994 and January 1998 were includ ed. Seventy eight patients with an average ejection fraction of 29 +/- 6% w ho were haemodynamically stable were retained, excluding acute myocardial i nfarctions and cases of cardiogenic shock. The population was mainly masculine (6 men and 13 women) with a mean age of 65 +/- 11 years. The primary success rate was 97%. The loss of a collatera l branch during the procedure, causing a non-Q wave infarction and the impo ssibility of implanting the stent at the desired site in another patient, w ere the only two failures. Hospital mortality was nil. The mean follow-up p eriod was 450 +/- 290 days; long-term mortality was 17%. All deaths were of cardiovascular origin. The probability of survival at 6 months. 1 year and 800 days, was 88, 85 and 75% respectively. The good initial results were not maintained at long-term, but this could n ot be attributed to restenosis or to the pre-existing left ventricular dysf unction.