Improved global and regional left ventricular function after angioplasty for chronic coronary occlusion

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty can be performed safely and effectively in patients with chronic total coronary occlusion. To investigate the effect on left ventricular function, global and regional left ventricular ejection fraction were analyzed by contrast angiography in 49 patients before and 10 +/- 6 weeks after successful recanalization. Coronary angiography at follow-up showed reocclusion in 12 patients (24%). In 37 patients with patent arteries global ejection fraction increased from 55.8 +/- 7.1% at baseline to 62.5 +/- 11.3% at follow-up (P < 0.001), and regional wall motion assessed by the centerline method improved from -1.7 +/- 1.0 to -0.6 +/- 1.5 standard deviations/chord (P < 0.001). In contrast, in patients with reocclusion neither global ejection fraction nor regional wall motion were significantly different at follow-up compared with baseline. Changes in global or regional left ventricular function after coronary recanalization were unrelated to other parameters such as severity of angina, duration of occlusion, history of myocardial infarction, presence or absence of visible collaterals, or baseline left ventricular function. Thus in patients with primarily successful recanalization of chronically occluded coronary arteries persistent vessel patency is the major determinant of global and regional improvement of left ventricular function.