Surgical procedures after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Since Gruentzig's introduction of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in 1974, there has been increasing clinical use of this technic. At St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, 50 patients were selected for coronary angioplasty through December 1981. Twenty of the 50 have ultimately had coronary artery bypass surgery. Excellent dilatation of the selected coronary artery was accomplished in 19 patients. Fair dilatation was achieved six times, and four of these patients have had elective coronary artery bypass surgery. In 18 patients the vessels could not be dilated, and 12 of this group had coronary artery bypass, three on an urgent basis. In the remaining seven patients, the affected coronary stenosis was converted to 100% occlusion during the angioplasty, resulting in four emergency operations and one death. It appears that percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is not as easy to master as had been anticipated, and that the results are just good enough in our hands to justify perseverence.