Transmyocardial laser revascularization 12 years later

We report the long-term follow-up of 34 patients who underwent transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) from 1995 to 1999. At 12 years the actuarial survival is 24%±8%, actuarial freedom from cardiac deaths is 36%±10% and actuarial freedom from major adverse cardiac events 13%±8%. Mean angina class of nine current survivors is 2.7±0.6. Based on these results, the use of TMLR as an isolated procedure remains questionable. TMLR could probably achieve better results when employed in combination with myocardial revascularization or as a vehicle of intramyocardial growth factors.