New passive perfusion PTCA catheter

Percutaneous coronary angioplasty with a new passive perfusion balloon catheter was compared to a standard angioplasty balloon catheter during prolonged balloon inflations in miniature swine. Inflations with the passive perfusion balloon were alternated with a standard balloon with the initial balloon chosen randomly in 24 coronary arteries. End-points for terminating the balloon inflation were the appearance of 2 mm of ST segment deviation from baseline on the electrocardiogram, the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation, or 30 min of balloon inflation. During balloon inflation contrast injections were performed through the guiding catheter and flow distal to the balloon was graded 0-3 using the TIMI scale. The average (+/- SD) inflation time for the standard balloon was 3.1 +/- 2.2 minutes and for the perfusion balloon was 27.2 +/- 4.8 min (P less than 0.001). Electrocardiographic evidence of 2 mm of ST segment deviation from baseline was seen during 11/13 inflations with the standard balloon and in 3/11 balloon inflations with the perfusion balloon. Ventricular fibrillation occurred during 2/13 of the standard balloon inflations and in none during passive balloon inflations. Distal contrast flow during passive balloon inflations averaged 2.7 +/- 0.5 (TIMI scale 0-3) and was absent during inflations with the standard balloon. The perfusion balloon allowed prolonged inflations with excellent distal flow when compared to the standard balloon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)