Results of emergency aortocoronary bypass surgery in patients with acute myocardial ischemia after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

: From April 1980 to June 1985 7.3% (15) of 205 PTCA-treated patients required emergency operations. The spectrum of PTCA-induced ischemia included anginal pain alone (2/1, 13%) or transmural infarction (13/15, 87%) with hypotension (8/15), cardiac arrest (4/15), and severe cardiogenic shock (3/15, 20%). 14 patients underwent saphenous-vein-bypass-graft operation (ACBG) with a mean of 1.7 grafts performed per patient. The average time from onset of symptoms to completed revascularisation was 166.5 (110 to 290) minutes. Inspite of the use of IABP one hospital death (6.6%) occurred prior to the institution of ECC in a patient with previous ACBG surgery. No late death was observed during a mean follow up of 11.1 (1 to 33) months with 13/14 patients free of anginal symptoms. Retrospective assessment of postoperative serum enzyme levels of CPK and CK-MB showed evidence of myocardial infarctions in 7/14 (50%) patient. The incidence on ECG of Q-wave infarctions was 35,7% (5/14). With the exception of one patient, IABP was not used pre- or postoperatively. In patients with acute myocardial ischemia following PTCA-attempts immediate restoration of myocardial blood flow can stabilize left ventricular function and reduce the incidence and size of myocardial infarctions. The availability of emergency ACBG-surgery and facilities remain an important prerequisite of PTCA-programs due to the unpredictable natural course of PTCA-induced myocardial ischemia.