[High-frequency angioplasty in coronary disease. Initial clinical experiences]

After extensive animal experiments a new method of high-frequency current coronary angioplasty (HFCA) via a specially developed catheter system was used in ten patients with haemodynamically significant coronary artery stenoses. In eight patients the stenoses affected the anterior interventricular branch (AIVB), in one patient each the circumflex branch and the right coronary artery, respectively. In nine patients the stenosis cross-section was reduced by at least 20% (from a mean of 91.9% +/- 5.8% to 52.6 +/- 17.5%). In three patients HFCA was followed by balloon angioplasty. The total number of applications per patient ranged from 3 to 12 (mean total duration of current flow: 3.9 +/- 1.0 s). There was only one severe complication, in a patient with subtotal AIVB occlusion after initially successful HFCA: balloon angioplasty successfully restored the lumen to the post-HFCA state. The new technique of HFCA is worthy of further development. It promises to be a valuable addition or alternative to balloon coronary angioplasty.