To evaluate the ability of transluminal coronary angioplasty (TCA) to relieve myocardial ischemia, 44 patients with single vessel disease underwent exercise gated radionuclide ventriculography (GRNV) before and 2.8 +/- 1.3 days following angiographically successful TCA. Pre-TCA GRNV was abnormal in 11 of 14 patients with right coronary artery (RCA) stenosis and 24 of 30 with left anterior descending (LAD) stenosis. Following TCA there was an increase in exercise duration from 500 +/- 288 sec to 625 +/- 273 sec (P less than 0.001), and in maximum double product from (209 +/- 69) x 10(2) to (263 +/- 70) x 10(2) (P less than 0.001). The number of patients with stress-induced ST-T abnormalities decreased from 13 to 4 (P less than 0.05), and the number with chest pain during exercise decreased from 18 to one (P less than 0.001). Whereas resting ejection fraction was unchanged (0.58 +/- 0.10 vs 0.59 +/- 0.11) following TCA, the ejection fraction at peak exercise increased from 0.61 +/- 0.13 to 0.66 +/- 0.12 (P less than 0.001). Of 24 patients with resting abnormalities, regional wall motion improved in 13. In 22 of 31 patients with stress-induced asynergy, the wall motion response to exercise improved (P less than 0.001). Of 19 patients restudied angiographically and with exercise GRNV at 6-12 months, restenosis of greater than or equal to 50% had occurred in six, four of whom had abnormal studies. In six of whom the degree of stenosis of the dilated artery had remained less than or equal to 20% the exercise GRNV study remained normal. It is concluded that GRNV is helpful in documenting the improvement in resting left ventricular function and functional reserve in patients with angiographically successful TCA. In the limited number of patients with late follow-up studies, data suggest that GRNV may be a valuable test to detect restenosis.
Transluminal coronary angioplasty (TCA) of the right coronary artery (RCA) was performed by brachial cut-down approach in 33 patients during a period of 16 months. Flexible-tip guiding catheters were used in all cases. TCA was successful in 27 of 33 patients (81%). The stenosis was reduced in successful cases from a mean of 89% predilatation to 26% postdilatation (P less than 0.001). The systolic pressure gradient across the lesion was reduced from a mean of 49 mm Hg to 4 mm Hg (P less than 0.001). Following successful TCA, patients experienced marked improvement in clinical status, functional capacity, and relief of angina. The complication rate in this study was low. There was no early or late mortality. The most common complication was dissection of the coronary artery occurring in four cases (12%). One patient sustained an acute inferior myocardial infarction. Only one patient required emergency coronary artery bypass surgery. The late follow-up (mean 6 months) angiography was obtained in 17 patients. The stenosis recurred in late follow-up in three cases (18%). Our initial experience revealed that the use of softer guiding catheters by brachial technique offers more selective approach for TCA of RCA lesions and provides better results than percutaneous femoral approach with fixed-tip catheters. Our success rate of 81% for dilatation of RCA is significantly higher than previously reported.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.