Outcomes of retrograde chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention: A report from the OPEN-CTO registry
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Complete and Partial Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta for Hemorrhagic Shock
Published on: May 19, 2022
Sanjog Kalra1, Darshan Doshi2, James Sapontis3
1Department of Medicine, Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Insights
Retrograde percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion (CTO PCI) had higher in-hospital risks but similar long-term quality of life outcomes compared to antegrade-only approaches.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Vascular Medicine
Background:
- Outcomes of retrograde versus antegrade-only percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO) are not well-established.
- CTO PCI is a complex procedure with varying technical approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare in-hospital and long-term clinical outcomes of retrograde versus antegrade-only CTO PCI.
- To evaluate the impact of different CTO PCI techniques on patient quality of life.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the OPEN-CTO registry, including 885 single CTO procedures.
- Comparison of retrograde (n=454) versus antegrade-only (n=431) CTO PCI.
- Primary endpoints: in-hospital and 1-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), and quality of life scores.
Main Results:
- Retrograde CTO PCI involved more complex lesions and had lower technical success rates.
- In-hospital MACCE rates were significantly higher in the retrograde group (10.8% vs. 3.3%).
- One-year MACCE rates were also higher in the retrograde group (19.5% vs. 13.9%), but sensitivity analyses showed no difference post-discharge.
- Quality of life improvements were similar between both groups at 1-year.
Conclusions:
- Retrograde CTO PCI is associated with increased in-hospital MACCE compared to antegrade-only PCI.
- Despite higher initial risks, retrograde and antegrade-only CTO PCI yield similar long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life improvements.
- Technical modality choice should consider lesion complexity and patient-specific factors.
Objectives:
We sought to assess in-hospital and long-term outcomes of retrograde compared with antegrade-only percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion (CTO PCI).
Background:
Procedural and clinical outcomes following retrograde compared with antegrade-only CTO PCI remain unknown.
Methods:
Using the core-lab adjudicated OPEN-CTO registry, we compared the outcomes of retrograde to antegrade-only CTO PCI. Primary endpoints included were in-hospital major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (all-cause death, stroke, myocardial infarction [MI], emergency cardiac surgery, or clinically significant perforation) and MACCE at 1-year (all-cause death, MI, stroke, target lesion revascularization, or target vessel reocclusion).
Results:
Among 885 single CTO procedures from the OPEN-CTO registry, 454 were retrograde and 431 were antegrade-only. Lesion complexity was higher (J-CTO score: 2.7 vs. 1.9; p < .001) and technical success lower (82.4 vs. 94.2%; p < .001) in retrograde compared with antegrade-only procedures. All-cause death was higher in the retrograde group in-hospital (2 vs. 0%; p = .003), but not at 1-year (4.9 vs. 3.3%; p = .29). Compared with antegrade-only procedures, in-hospital MACCE rates (composite of all-cause death, stroke, MI, emergency cardiac surgery, and clinically significant perforation) were higher in the retrograde group (10.8 vs. 3.3%; p < .001) and at 1-year (19.5 vs. 13.9%; p = .03). In sensitivity analyses landmarked at discharge, there was no difference in MACCE rates at 1 year following retrograde versus antegrade-only CTO PCI. Improvements in Seattle Angina Questionnaire Quality of Life scores at 1-year were similar between the retrograde and antegrade-only groups (29.9 vs 30.4; p = .58).
Conclusions:
In the OPEN-CTO registry, retrograde CTO procedures were associated with higher rates of in-hospital MACCE compared with antegrade-only; however, post-discharge outcomes, including quality of life improvements, were similar between technical modalities.
More Related Videos
07:02Operating Transverse Aortic Constriction with Absorbable Suture to Obtain Transient Myocardial Hypertrophy
Published on: September 9, 2020
05:41Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery Ligation for Ischemia-Reperfusion Research: Model Improvement via Technical Modifications and Quality Control
Published on: December 16, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Acute Coronary Syndrome III: Diagnostic Studies
Coronary Artery Disease V: Interprofessional Care
Peripheral Artery Disease III: Interprofessional Care