Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty in Progressive Myocardial Ischemia: Medium-term Results

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) has undergone a major evolution since 1977, when Gruentzig and coworkers [3] made their first balloon dilatation. The success rate with PTCA has improved, ranging from 60% to about 90%, as the experience of operators (learning curve) and availability of materials have increased. Most recently, some authors [2, 9] have also employed this procedure in cases of multiple-vessel disease, stenoses of saphenous vein grafts, and acute ischemic episodes. Initially, our experience — at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, 2nd Medical School University of Naples, Italy — was restricted to only single (rarely double) and proximal coronary artery narrowing and especially to patients with progressive myocardial ischemia.