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. Controversy exists regarding the ability of intra-aortic balloon pumping to increase coronary blood flow in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease. To assess the effects of intra-aortic balloon pumping on coronary hemodynamics, we measured coronary blood flow velocity with a 0.018-in. Doppler-tipped angioplasty guide wire in 15 patients who received an intra-aortic balloo...

Background. Controversy exists regarding the ability of intra-aortic balloon pumping to increase coronary blood flow in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease. To assess the effects of intra-aortic balloon pumping on coronary hemodynamics, we measured coronary blood flow velocity with a 0.018-in. Doppler-tipped angioplasty guide wire in 15 patients who received an intra-aortic balloo...

BACKGROUND Acute coronary occlusion is the leading cause of cardiac arrest. Because of limited data, the indications and timing of coronary angiography and angioplasty in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are controversial. Using data from the Parisian Region Out of hospital Cardiac ArresT prospective registry, we performed an analysis to assess the effect of an invasive strategy on ...

The shortage of ideal donor hearts has led to an extension of the classical donor criteria of age. Higher incidence of focal coronary artery disease has been found in this older donor population requiring conventional angioplasty therapy. The authors present two patients with early coronary angiogram post transplantation, requiring angioplasty and stent in the lesions found.

Antiphospholipid syndrome is a rare disorder. Acute myocardial infarction is uncommon among these patients. Here we report a case of a 44-year-old man with antiphospholipid syndrome admitted for acute inferior myocardial infarction. Performed coronary angiography revealed that both the right coronary and the left circumflex coronary arteries were occluded by thrombi. We successfully performed p...

OBJECTIVES We attempted to answer the question, Is balloon angioplasty a reasonable alternative to repeat coronary artery bypass graft surgery in patients with previous coronary bypass graft surgery, medically refractory unstable angina and vein graft lesions? BACKGROUND Patients with medically refractory unstable angina need revascularization. Patients with previous coronary artery bypass gr...

Coronary angioplasty and coronary bypass surgery are mechanical approaches to atherosclerotic obstructions that impede coronary blood flow. In bypass surgery, arterial and venous conduits are placed beyond the proximal obstructions. By contrast, in angioplasty, the area of narrowing is expanded and now usually buttressed with a stent. Neither mechanical approach addresses the fundamental diseas...