Significance of balloon imprint during coronary angioplasty

Balloon imprint during angioplasty is often seen, but not at all inflations . We prospectively studied 235 consecutive patients undergoing 282 PTCAs du ring a 4-month period, who were divided into two groups: those with balloon imprint during inflation (159 patients, 190 lesions; 67%) and those withou t (76 patients, 92 lesions; 33%). Clinical and lesion characteristics and i mmediate outcome were compared. Patients undergoing urgent PTCA had less ba lloon imprint than those undergoing nonurgent PTCA (14.2% vs. 28.3%; P < 0. 005). Although not reaching statistical significance, younger patients and diabetic patients tended toward less balloon imprint (P < 0.06), Patients w ith observed imprint had less visible thrombus at lesion site (31.1% vs. 42 .4%; P < 0.05), and a tendency without statistical significance toward more dissections but less acute closure was observed (P < 0.07), In addition, m ore stents were implanted in the imprint group (79.5% vs. 66.3%; P < 0.02). Patients needing pressure > 6 atm to break the imprint had more eccentric lesions (68% vs, 27.1%; P < 0.000) and more dissections (13.9% vs. 5.1%; P < 0.03) than those needing lower pressure. Patient and lesion characteristi cs may determine the appearance of balloon imprint at PTCA, which in turn i nfluences the procedure and its immediate outcome. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc .