Is there any effect of chronobiological changes on coronary angioplasty?

Aims We hypothesized that If there is a chronobiologic variation in the dev elopment of acute ischaemic events which is mainly attributed to the tenden cy for thrombus formation in the morning hours, same time dependent Variati ons must also be seen in the development of ischaemic events after percutan eous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and PTCA with stent implantat ion. Methods Enrolled in this study were 349 consecutive patients with single ve ssel disease and undergoing elective single vessel angioplasty. Patients ha d been observed for the development of immediate postprocedural ischaemic e vents. Working hours of our laboratory were divided into a-hourly intervals in order to define the ending time of procedure. Analysis of acute complic ations was carried out according to the ending time of procedure. Results There was no difference with regard to clinical presentation, but p atients who had complications had higher blood cholesterol level (P < 0.05) . Patients with stent implantation had more adverse events than the PTCA gr oup, but this difference did not reach the statistical significance (P = 0. 07). The time interval between 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. was found to be an ind ependent risk factor for the negative outcomes (P = 0.043, Relative Risk 48 38). Conclusion The results of our study have demonstrated that postprocedural c omplications after angioplasty is related to the procedure time These patie nts may be observed more closely for the development of immediate postproce dural ischaemic events. J Cardiovase Risk 8:15-19 (C) 2001 Lippincott Willi ams & Wilkins.