OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the value and limitations of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a contrast agent to guide vascular interventional procedures. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Twenty-two adults underwent 26 vascular interventional procedures (21 arterial, five venous). We aimed to use only CO2 if possible because these patients had renal insufficiency (n = 21; mean creatinine level,...

AIMS In patients with acute myocardial infarction and ST-segment elevation (STEMI), primary angioplasty is frequently not available or performed beyond the recommended time limit. We designed a non-inferiority, randomized, controlled study to evaluate whether lytic-based early routine angioplasty represents a reasonable reperfusion option for victims of STEMI irrespective of geographic or logis...

BACKGROUND Because stent implantation for disease of the superficial femoral artery has been associated with high rates of late clinical failure, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is preferred for endovascular treatment, and stenting is recommended only in the event of suboptimal technical results. We evaluated whether primary implantation of a self-expanding nitinol (nickel-titanium) stent...

AIMS To study the impact of smoking on the change in exercise capacity in patients treated with coronary angioplasty. METHODS Three hundred and sixty-eight men below 70 years of age eligible for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty without previous coronary interventions were consecutively enrolled. Of the 334 patients (90.8%) who completed the study 77 (23.1%) were current smokers....

background: carotid artery stenting is now used as an alternative to surgical endarterectomy. this study was done to assess the feasibility, safety, and immediate and late clinical outcomes in patients undergoing carotid stenting . methods: between july 2008 and december 2009, a total of 40 patients (20 male, mean age: 65 ± 11 years, 19 symptomatic, and 90% high risk for endarterectomy) underwe...

BACKGROUND Excimer laser coronary angioplasty is a new, investigational technique for treating coronary artery stenoses. Initial reports have demonstrated acute efficacy and relative safety of this procedure, but have not addressed the effect of lesion type on acute success and complication rates. METHODS AND RESULTS In the first 100 patients undergoing percutaneous excimer laser coronary ang...

Background. Excimer laser coronary angioplasty is a new, investigational technique for treating coronary artery stenoses. Initial reports have demonstrated acute efficacy and relative safety of this procedure, but have not addressed the effect of lesion type on acute success and complication rates. Methods and Results. In the first 100 patients undergoing percutaneous excimer laser coronary ang...

To determine if there is release of endothelial cells or plaque contents after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, effluent from atherosclerotic segments of the aorta and iliac arteries of rabbits were collected before and after angioplasty. No endothelial cells or cholesterol plates were identified in the preangioplasty effluents. Only a few single endothelial cells and cholesterol crystals...

[1] Grines CL, Cox DA, Stone GW et al. Coronary angioplasty with or without stent implantation for acute myocardial infarction. Stent Primary Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction Study Group. N Engl J Med 1999; 341: 1949–56. [2] Saito S, Hosokawa G, Tanaka S, Nakamura S. Primary stent implantation is superior to balloon angioplasty in acute myocardial infarction: final results of the primary an...

Simultaneous transcatheter coil occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus and balloon angioplasty of coarctation of aorta is avoided since intimal tearing after angioplasty is believed to increase the risk for dissection of the aorta during catheter manipulation. We report a 14-month-old boy, with weight of 7.6 kg, with aortic coarctation and patent ductus arteriosus with a large left-to-right shun...