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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter pulsation in the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with concurrent left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 305 patients with confirmed STEMI due to LMCA occlusion (≥ 50%) by coronary angiography. They were divided into IABP and non-IABP groups according to the application of IABP or not. Two groups were further divided into 2 subgroups according to the treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or drug alone. Short and long-term clinical efficacies and the incidence of complications caused by the application of IABP were analyzed in all groups and subgroups., Results: (1) PCI procedure: Successful rate of immediate post-procedure was 100%. No death, major cardiovascular event and cerebrovascular accident occurred during the procedure. The average number of stents per patient was 2.1 ± 0.7 and the average diameter and length of stent were (3.9 ± 0.6) and (24.2 ± 7.1) mm respectively. (2) SAFETY: No significant difference existed between the IABP and non-IABP groups in in-hospital massive bleeding rate (0.94% vs 1.00%, P > 0.05). However, the IABP group had a higher prevalence of mild in-hospital bleeding than the non-IABP group. (3) In-hospital and long-term major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rate: (1) IABP group had a lower MACE rate (25.3% (24/95) vs 38.5% (57/148), P < 0.05). (2) In spite of IABP implantation, the PCI subgroup had significantly a lower mortality rate than the drug subgroup (7.2% (6/83) vs 25.0% (6/24), P < 0.05). (3) The combined use of PCI and IABP was superior to other regimens with regards to decreasing short and long-term mortality (11.2% (12/107) and 25.3% (50/198), P < 0.01)., Conclusion: PCI is feasible and safe for the STEMI patients with LMCA and better short and long-term efficacies may be achieved. The use of IABP in the treatment of LMCA-related STEMI reduces MACE rate and improves survival rate.

Objective: To explore the effects of intensive antiplatelet therapy for patients with high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) after coronary stent implantation., Methods: Between March 2009 and February 2011, a total of 3316 consecutive acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing drug-eluting stent implanting from 3 hospitals were enrolled. Among them, 840 patients (25.3%) were identified as HPR (defined as 20 µmol/L adenosine diphosphate induced platelet aggregation of ≥ 55% at 24 hours after administration of 300 mg clopidogrel loading dose and 300 mg aspirin). The HPR patients were randomly assigned to receive standard (aspirin 300 mg/d and clopidogrel 75 mg/d, n = 280) or intensified (n = 560) antiplatelet therapy by the ratio of 1:2. Patients in the intensive group were initially treated with a double maintenance dose of clopidogrel (150 mg/d) and aspirin (300 mg/d). After 3 days, patients with unsolved HPR received additional cilostazol treatment (50 - 100 mg, bid). The reversion rate of HPR and clinical events were observed., Results: In the intensive group, HPR reversed in 304 out of 560 patients (54.3%) at 3 days post therapy and the remaining 256 patients with HPR were treated with additional cilostazol regimen for another 3 days and the total reversion rate of HPR was 81.1% (454/560). The reversion rate of HPR at 30 days in the intensified group was significantly higher than that of the standard group (69.9% vs. 55.7%, P = 0.000). At 30 days after percutaneous coronary intervention, 1 patient suffered from subacute stent thrombosis (0.2%) in intensified group and no stent thrombosis was observed in standard group (P = 1.000). There were no death, major or minor bleeding in both two groups. Minimal bleeding was also similar in the two groups (intensive: 4.28% vs. standard: 2.14%, P = 0.166)., Conclusions: The intensified antiplatelet therapy regimens could significantly increase the reversion rate of HPR in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing coronary stenting without increasing the risk of bleeding. The clinic impact of this strategy needs to be elucidated by long term follow-up outcome studies.

Objective: To assess the therapeutic effect and safety of drug eluting stent for the patients with anterior wall myocardial infarction by left anterior descending artery occluded abruptly., Methods: From January 2004 to December 2008, 302 patients with anterior wall myocardial infarction in 12 hours from chest pain to treatment were treated. But only 189 patients were recruited and randomly divided into drug eluting stent group (n = 95) and bare metal stent group (n = 94). The occurrence of cardiac death, stent thrombosis, reinfarction, target vessel revascularization and re-hospitalization because of heart function failure was compared., Results: There was no difference in cardiac death [3/95 (3%) vs 7/94 (7%), P = 0.206], reinfarction [1/95 (1%) vs 5/94 (5%), P = 0.112] and re-hospitalization because of heart function failure [8 (8%) vs 5 (5%), P = 0.434]. Compared with those in bare metal stent group, the patients in drug eluting stent group has a lower rate of target vessel revascularization [2 (2%) vs 13 (14%), P = 0.009] and composite therapeutic effect endpoints [12 (13%) vs 25 (27%), P = 0.011]. There was no difference in safety endpoint or stent thrombosis [1 (1%) vs 4 (4%), P = 0.204]., Conclusion: In patients with anterior wall myocardial infarction by left anterior descending artery occluded abruptly, drug eluting stent decreases the rate of target vessel revascularization. But it has no increased stent thrombosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the anatomy variation of coronary vein system in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and non-ischemic heart disease (NIHD)., Method: Forty-one patients with IHD and 87 patients with NIHD [101 men, mean age (63.5 +/- 10.6) years] were included in this study., Results: Coronary sinuses were successfully cannulated and venographies were obtained in 127 cases. Transvenous LV pacing leads were successfully placed in optimal coronary vein in 123 cases (96.09%). The majority (76.38%) patients had at least one or more vessel abnormalities (thinness, stenosis, tortuousity, lack of lateral marginal vein or postero-lateral vein). The incidence of thin and tortuousity was significantly higher in lateral marginal vein than that in postero-lateral vein (P < 0.05-0.01). The incidence of lack of postero-lateral marginal vein was more frequent than the lack of lateral vein (P < 0.05). The rate of abnormality in both vessels was 25.2%. Incidence of vein lack in male was more frequent than in female (P < 0.05). The thin and tortuousity of vessels in female were more frequent than in male (P < 0.05). The incidence of thin and tortuousity of postero-lateral and abnormality of both vessels was significantly higher in IHD than in NIHD patients (P < 0.05). All coronary sinus myocardial bridges occurred in NIHD. Stenoses of left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX) were mostly associated with abnormality of lateral vessels., Conclusions: The anatomic variations of lateral and postero-lateral coronary vein were more frequent in this patient cohort. Vein lack in male was more frequent and the thin and tortuousity of vessels were less in male than in female patients. The ratio of vessel abnormality is higher in patients with IHD. Coronary arteries stenosis and position of infarction are associated with anatomic variations of coronary vein system.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term outcomes of successful or failed revascularization in patients with chronic total occlusions (CTO)., Methods: The clinical data of 1332 consecutive patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for CTO between June 1993 and December 2006 in our hospital were analyzed. These patients were divided into two groups according to the procedural success (n = 1202) or failure (n = 130)., Results: Overall success rate of procedure was 90.2% (1202/1332). The patients in CTO success group experienced a superior 10-year survival rate (76.9% vs. 64.6%, log rank P = 0.012) and a significantly higher no major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) survival rate (41.8% vs. 27.6%, log rank P < 0.001) compared to the patients in CTO failure group. During the long-term follow-up, the proportion of patients who accepted coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was significantly lower in CTO success group than that in the CTO failure group (4.3% vs. 14.6%, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Successful PCI procedure leads to increased long-term survival and MACE-free survival and the reduced need for CABG for patients with CTO lesions.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term therapeutic effects of atorvastatin via cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A4 pathway or a non-CYP 3A4 pathway statin, pravastatin, combined with clopidogrel for the patients undergoing coronary stenting., Methods: Between February 2006 and March 2007, a total of 1275 patients undergoing successful coronary stenting were randomly assigned to receive atorvastatin 20 mg/d (n = 638) or pravastatin 20 mg/d (n = 637). All patients received standard clopidogrel therapy. The primary end point was cardiac and cerebral ischemic events at 12 months, defined as a composite of cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke. The secondary end points were major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE), stent thrombosis and TIMI hemorrhagic events at 12 months., Results: The baseline clinical characteristics, angiographic and PCI result were comparable between two groups. At 12 month follow-up, no significant difference was observed in cardiac and cerebral ischemic events between two groups (4.7% vs 5.5%, P > 0.05). Also no significant difference existed in rate of cardiac death (1.9% vs 2.5%, P > 0.05), non-fatal MI (0.5% vs 0.3% , P > 0.05), stroke (2.4% vs 2.7%, P > 0.05) and TVR (7.7% vs 5.5%, P > 0.05) between two groups. The rates of MACCE (12.4% vs 11.0%, P > 0.05), stent thrombosis (2.0% vs 2.5%, P > 0.05) and hemorrhagic events (13.0% vs 12.2%, P > 0. 05) were similar between two groups., Conclusion: The 12 month clinical outcomes were similar between patients receiving atorvastatin 20 mg/d or pravastatin 20 mg/d combined with clopidogrel after coronary stenting. It confirmed the efficacy and safety of the combination of clopidogrel with statins via different metabolic pathways.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for graft occlusion post coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)., Methods: The clinical data of 135 post-CABG patients with bypass graft occlusion and angina pectoris symptoms admitted to our department between June 2003 and June 2007 were analyzed. The mean interval from CABG to index angiography was 33.8 +/- 23.5 months. Among 318 grafts, 29 left internal mammary artery (LIMA, 29/128, 22.7%) and 117 saphenous vein bypass grafts (117/188, 62.2%) were occluded. A total of 158 target lesions from these 146 vessels were treated with PCI. All target lesions were B2/C type lesion with 29.7% (47/158) chronic total occlusions., Results: A total of 310 DES were implanted. The total success rate of PCI procedure was 96. 3% (130/135), and lesion success rate was 96.8% (153/158). No major clinical complications occurred during peri-intervention period. All patients underwent PCI were followed at 12 month. Angiographic follow-up was obtained in 89 patients and the angiographic restenosis rate was 5.6% (5/89) in these patients. The major adverse cardiac events and target vessel revascularization rates were 5.4% (7/130) and 6.2% (8/130), respectively., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that PCI procedure for graft occlusion post-CABG is feasible and safe and associated with a high procedure success rate and favorable long-term clinical and angiographic outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the in-hospital outcome of patients with calcified chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesion underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: The clinic and lesion characteristics as well as acute PCI outcome were analyzed in 726 patients with calcified CTO [624 detected by coronary angiography (CAG) and 102 detected by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)] and received PCI therapy from June 1995 to February 2007 in our department., Results: There were 728 diseased vessels with 732 lesions in these patients. Total procedure success rate (80.6% vs. 89.2%, P < 0.05) and the lesion success rate (80.2% vs. 88.2%, P < 0.05) were significantly lower in calcified CTO detected by CAG compared to that detected by IVUS. The causes of procedure failures in CAG detected patients were as follows: 87 guide failure, 21 balloon failure, 8 procedure related complications and 5 low TIMI blood flow (grade 2) at the end of PCI procedure. The causes of procedure failures in IVUS detected patients were as follows: 7 guide wire failure, 2 balloon failure, 1 procedure related complications and 1 patient with low TIMI blood flow (grade 2). The in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rate was 1.1% in CAG detected calcified CTO and 1.0% in IVUS detected calcified CTO (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: PCI therapy resulted in satisfactory procedure success rate and in-hospital outcome for patients with calcified CTO and IVUS is helpful for further increasing the PCI procedure success rate in patients with calcified CTO.

Objective: To compare the clinical therapeutic results of percutaneous transluminal stenting between patients with acute and chronic aortic dissections., Methods: From May 2002 to October 2007, 42 patients with acute type B aortic dissection and 40 patients with chronic aortic dissection underwent stenting. The clinical data of the patients were analyzed., Results: Comparing with the chronic aortic dissection group, the acute aortic dissection group had higher percentage of pleural effusion (16.7% vs 0, P =0.01) and visceral/leg ischemia (23.8% vs 2.5%, P = 0.01). The acute aortic dissection group had higher complications in early term (38.1% vs 15.0%, P = 0.02). All patients were followed up for an average of (18.7 +/- 17.3) months. The rate of complications were higher in the patients with acute aortic dissection than those with chronic aortic dissection (21.4% vs 5.0%, P = 0.03). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed no difference of survival rate between the 2 groups during follow-up period (P = 0.38). The 5-year survival rate was 90.0% in acute aortic dissection group years and 92.5% in chronic aortic dissection group, respectively. The event-free survival rate was higher in the patients with chronic dissection than that with in the patients acute aortic dissection (P = 0.04)., Conclusions: Percutaneous transluminal stenting is effective in the treatment of type B aortic dissection, but there are more complications in acute than in chronic aortic dissection group.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of stenting for selective unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease., Methods: The clinical data of 416 patients with ULMCA who underwent selective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were analyzed., Results: In 291 of the 416 patients (70.0%), the ULMCA lesions were located in the distal bifurcation site. A total of 503 stents were successfully deployed in 414 patients and the mean stent number was (1.2+/-0.7) stents per patient. The success rate of stenting procedure was 99.5%. During hospital stay, no patient died. The major adverse cardiac event (MACE) during in-hospitalization was 0.5% (2/416). The target lesion revascularization (TLR) rate was 4.9%. During the follow-up 16 (3.9%) patients died including 12 cases (2.9%) of cardiac death. Angiography during follow-up conducted on 136 (33.1%) patients showed that binary in-stent restenosis occurred in 20 patients (14.7%, 20/136). TLR was performed by coronary artery bypass graft in 14 patients and by drug eluting stent (DES) implantation in 6 patients respectively. The total MACE rate was 8.3% (34/411)., Conclusion: Safe and with favorable clinical outcome, selective coronary stenting for ULMCA lesions can achieve a high technical success rate.

Objective: To determine risk factors and evaluate the efficacy of emergent PCI for acute or subacute coronary in-stent thrombosis., Methods: Baseline and follow-up data of 6977 patients who underwent stent implantation in our institution between January 2000 and May 2006 were analyzed., Results: Of 6977 patients, acute or subacute coronary in-stent thrombosis was confirmed in 52 (0.75%) patients by coronary angiogram. The in-stent thrombosis occurred between 30 minutes to 20 days post PCI (mean 3.6 +/- 4.2 days). Predictive factors for in-stent thrombosis showed by multivariate analysis were AMI, B2/C type lesions, multi-vessel diseases, heart failure and target lesions on left anterior descending artery (LAD). Among these 52 patients, 43 presented recurrent chest pain or ST elevation AMI, 6 suffered from cardiac arrests, 1 manifested hypotension and 2 showed no typical clinical symptoms and were diagnosed during scheduled PCI for other diseased vessels. Emergent coronary angiogram evidenced total thrombotic occlusion in 48 patients and 70% - 95% thrombotic stenosis in 4 patients. All 52 patients were treated with emergent PCI. Forty-seven patients survived and 5 patients died (mortality 9.6%)., Conclusion: The risk of developing in-stent thrombosis was higher in patients with AMI, B2/C type lesions, multi-vessel diseases, heart failure and target lesions on LAD. Emergent PCI is the most effective method for treating in-stent thrombosis and should be carried out as early as possible in order to improve outcomes of this severe complication post stenting.

Objective: To elucidate the relative factors and prognostic impact for angiographic no-reflow phenomenon during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI)., Methods: A total of 930 patients with AMI who underwent primary PCI were divided into no-reflow group and normal-reflow group. Factors related to no-reflow were analyzed by logistic regression model and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in-hospital as well as during long-term follow-up was also observed., Results: No-reflow occurred in 82 out of 930 patients. Admission glucose level (9.8 +/- 4.3 mmol/L vs. 8.5 +/- 3.5 mmol/L, P = 0.001), peak CK-MB value (369.4 +/- 167.8 U/L vs. 282.3 +/- 161.7 U/L, P < 0.01) and percentage of TIMI flow grade 0 on initial angiogram (69.5% vs. 54.5%, P = 0.009) were significantly higher and pre-infarction angina (19.5% vs. 48.1%, P < 0.01) was significantly lower in no-flow patients than normal flow patients. Logistic regression analyses showed that admission glucose level, absence of pre-infarction angina, TIMI flow grade 0 on initial angiogram and pump failure were independent predictors of no reflow. In-hospital MACE (37.8% vs. 11.3%, P < 0.01) and follow-up MACE (37.5% vs. 17.4%, P < 0.01) were also significantly higher in no-flow patients than normal flow patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that no-reflow was an independent predictor of long-term cardiac death (relative risk 3.83, 95% confidence interval 1.71 to 5.57)., Conclusion: Admission glucose level, absence of pre-infarction angina, TIMI flow grade 0 on initial angiogram and pump failure were independent risk factors for no-reflow and no-flow is an independent predictor for increased in-hospital and follow-up MACE.

Objective: To evaluate short-term efficacy and safety of triple antiplatelet regimen (cilostazol combined with clopidogrel and aspirin) in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: From October 2001 to April 2005, a total of 3135 patients underwent PCI in the General Hospital of Shenyang Command, People's Liberation Army, of which 1103 were treated with cilostazol 100 mg twice a day for 6 months in addition to aspirin and clopidogrel for 3 - 12 months as triple antiplatelet therapy regimen (triple group) after PCI, and 2032 of which received aspirin and clopidogrel for 3 - 12 months as dual antiplatelet therapy regimen after PCI (control group). The data of the incidence rates of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), subacute in-stent thrombosis (SAT), and hemorrhage events within 30 days after PCI of the two groups were retrospectively analyzed., Results: The baseline clinical characteristics were comparable between these two groups. However, the proportions of the patients receiving stent implantation, with multivessel coronary artery diseases, and receiving PCI for unprotected left main trunk diseases of the triple group (91.3%, 68.3%, and 7.1% respectively) were all significantly higher than those of the control group (89.1%, 63.3%, and 4.6%, P < 0.05, P < 0.01, and P < 0.01). The proportion of patients with chronic total occlusions who received PCI in the triple group was 10.8%, significantly lower than that of the control group (13.4%, P < 0.05). No death occurred during procedure in both groups. The 30 d mortality and the rate of MACE with 30 days after PCI of the triple group were 0.4% and 1.3%, both significantly lower than those of the control group (1.6%, and 2.6%, both P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the incidence rates of SAT and major hemorrhage events between these 2 groups (0.7% vs 1.0% and 0.3% vs. 0.2% respectively, both P > 0.05)., Conclusion: This novel triple antiplatelet regimen (aspirin and clopidogrel combined with cilostazol) for PCI patients is safe and more efficient than the dual antiplatelet therapy regimen (clopidogrel and aspirin) in reducing mortality and incidence of MACE in a short-term period.

Objective: To Compare the efficacy and safety of Rapamycin (Cypher) and Paclitaxel (TAXUS) eluting stents for multi-vessel coronary diseases., Methods: From June 2003 to December 2004, a total of 416 patients with multi-vessel coronary diseases were randomly treated with Rapamycin (n = 210) and Paclitaxel (n = 206) eluting stents. Patients with left main lesion, acute myocardial infarction, revascularization were not included. Acute and long-term outcomes were compared between the two groups., Results: Baseline clinical characteristics, including risk factors of coronary heart disease, coronary lesion type, heart function, rates of success and complication of percutaneous coronary intervention procedure in the two groups were comparable. Number of stents implanted was not significantly different between the two groups (3.24 +/- 1.25 vs 3.19 +/- 1.38, P > 0.05). Mean follow-up duration was (19.5 +/- 8.9) months. Follow-up rate (96.2 vs 95.1%), angina pectoris reoccurrence (4.0 vs 6.1%), restenosis (7.1 vs 9.6%), major adverse cardiac event (6.4 vs 8.8%) and event free survival (93.1 vs 91.3%) during follow-up were not significantly different between the two groups. Subacute stent thrombosis rate tended to be higher in Paclitaxel eluting stent group compared with Rapamycin eluting stent group (1.0% vs 0.5%, P > 0.05). At 6 to 9 months angiographic follow-up, the in-stent minimal lumen diameter (MLD) and the in-segment MLD were similar between the two groups., Conclusions: Satisfactory acute and long term outcomes for patients with multi-vessel coronary disease were achieved by both Cypher and TAXUS stent implantation and the safety and efficacy of the two kinds of stents were comparable.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of cilostazol on long-term clinical outcomes in patients underwent coronary stent implantation., Methods: One hundred patients who underwent coronary stenting were randomly assigned to receive cilostazol 200 mg/d for 6 months (n = 50) or ticlopidine 500 mg/d for 1 month (n = 50). Aspirin 100 mg/d was administrated concomitantly with cilostazol or ticlopidine. Angiographic follow-up was carried out at 6 months and clinical follow-up for 3 years after stenting., Results: Angiographic restenosis occurred in 5 of 34 patients (14.7%) in cilostazol group and 10 of 37 patients (27.0%) in ticlopidine group (P = 0.204). At the end of three-year follow-up, the incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) was greatly reduced in cilostazol group compared with ticlopidine group (16% vs 36%, P = 0.023). Changes of Seattle angina questionnaire (SAQ) physical limitation score showed no significant difference between two groups (21.8 +/- 12.3 vs 16.8 +/- 15.9, P = 0.086). However, changes the improvement of angina frequency score much more was significant in cilostazol group (22.6 +/- 12.7) compared with that in ticlopidine group (16.1 +/- 13.3, P = 0.015). Recurrent angina occurred in 38% of patients in cilostazol group and 54% in ticlopidine group, respectively (P = 0.105). Readmission due to cardiac and cerebral vascular diseases was much less in cilostazol group than that in ticlopidine group (20% vs 40%, P = 0.029)., Conclusions: Cilostazol treatment significantly reduced MACCE and improved the quality of life pf patients in three-year clinical follow-up after coronary stenting.

Objective: To compare the clinical effects of rapamycin-eluting stent implantation and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in treatment of the patients with multi-vessel coronary disease., Methods: From January 2002 to December 2004, 262 patients with multi-vessel coronary disease underwent CABG, and 250 age, clinical characteristics, and characteristics of coronary disease-matched patients chose to receive rapamycin-eluting stent implantation. 6-9 months after the treatment angiography of the coronary artery was conducted. All the patients were followed up for 19 +/- 14 months. The clinical outcomes were compared., Results: No intra-operative death occurred in the rapamycin-eluting stent implantation group with an operation success rate of 100%, significantly higher than that of the CABG group with 9 intra-operative deaths and an operation success rate of 96.6% (P < 0.01). Three perioperative deaths occurred in the rapamycin-eluting stent implantation with a perioperative death rate of 1.2%, not significantly different from that of the CABG group (1.9% with 5 perioperative deaths). The total death rate during hospitalization of the rapamycin-eluting stent implantation group was 1.2%, significantly lower than that of the CABG group (5.3%, P < 0.05). The rate of in-hospital major adverse cardiac event (MACE) of the rapamycin-eluting stent implantation group was 1.6%, significantly lower than that of the CABG group (5.3%, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in MACE rate and angina pectoris recurrence during follow-up and event-free survival rate between these 2 groups., Conclusion: A better treatment for the patients with multi-vessel coronary disease, rapamycin-eluting stent implantation has the clinical effects comparable to those of the CABG.

Objective: To evaluate the in-hospital effect of emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on aged patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and diabetes mellitus., Methods: The clinical data of 556 patients aged > or = 60 with AMI hospitalized from December 1995 to April 2005, who underwent emergency PCI within 24 hours after the onset, including 127 cases complicated with diabetes mellitus (Group DM) and 429 cases without diabetes (non-diabetes mellitus group, Group ND), were analyzed respectively., Results: There were not significant differences in age, sex, smoking rate, hypertension rate, myocardial infarction (MI) rate, and time between onset and treatment between these 2 groups. However, the percentages of anterior wall AMI rate, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, Killip III-IV grade, and intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) application of Group DM were 58.3%, 13.4%, 27.6%, and 16.5%, all significantly higher than those of Group ND (46.4%, 6.8%, 27.6%, and 8.6%, P < 0.001, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.01). In Group DM, 59.1% of the infarction related artery was left anterior descending branch, and in Group ND 45.0% of the infarction related artery was left anterior descending branch (P < 0.05). The rate of triple vessel disease in Group DM was 77.2%, significantly higher than that of the Group ND (60.8%, P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in the PCI immediate success rate, intra-operational no-reflow rate, post-PCI complication rate and mortality during hospitalization between the two groups., Conclusion: Emergency in-hospital PCI is effective on aged AMI patients with diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To study the long-term effects and mortality of biventricular pacing therapy in patients with congestive heart failure., Methods: Twenty-five patients, 18 men and 7 women, aged 34-75 [mean aged of (61.42 +/- 10.36)] years, with a cardiac function of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III (n = 10) or IV (n = 15) received biventricular pacing therapy from Mar. 2001 to Feb. 2005. The etiologies of heart failure were idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (16 cases), hypertensive heart disease (3 cases) and ischemic heart disease (6 cases). Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) was > 60 mm, Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was < 0.40 and QRS duration was > 130 ms in all the patients. Heart function parameters were repeatedly measured before and 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years after pacemaker implantation. Mortality was also determined. The average follow up period was (20.88 +/- 11.51) months., Results: (1) Mortality: 5 patients died during follow-up (3 non-cardiac and 1 cardiac sudden death and 1 acute myocardial infarction). (2) The mean 6-min walking distance was increased significantly (P < 0.05) at 3 months to 3 years of follow-up. (3) NYHA class: The cardiac function of all patients improved significantly, with a reduction of mean NYHA class of more than one grade at 3 months to 3 years follow-up. (4) LVEDD: LVEDD reduced significantly (P < 0.05) at 3 months to 3 years follow-up. (5) LVEF: LVEF increased significantly (P < 0.05) at 3 months to 2 years follow-up. LVEF also improved at third year's follow-up, but the difference was not significant statistically., Conclusions: Cardiac resynchronization, a pacemaker-based therapy for heart failure, may enhance quality of life and heart function and reverse LV remodeling. The long-term effects of treatment were stable, leading to the reduction of mortality from advanced heart failure.

Objective: To explore the in-hospital effect of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)., Methods: The clinical data of 4670 hospitalized patients with ACS, 1750 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI, 37.5%) within 30 days and 2920 with unstable angina pectoris (62.5%), undergoing PCI from August 1989 to October 2004, were analyzed., Results: The total success rate of PCI procedure was 98.1% (4579/4670) for all patients, and the patency rate of infarction related artery of emergency PCI was 98.2% (825/840) in the patients with AMI onset within 24 h. The complication rate related to PCI procedure was 6.5% (304/4670). The total in-hospital mortality was 1.1% (52/4670) and the mortality during PCI procedure was 0.04% (2/4670). The duration from admission to PCI was 3.5 days +/- 2.1 days and the whole hospital stay was 12 days +/- 8 days., Conclusion: The success rate of PCI procedure in patients with ACS is high, while the in-hospital mortality and the complication rates are low, which shows that PCI has an ideal short-term effect in patients with ACS.

Objective: To assess the technique and outcomes of coronary intervention treatment for patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions., Methods: Retrospectively analyzed the data from 1148 patients with CTO who were treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between June 1993 and December 2004. There were 1494 CTO lesions in 1458 vessels with a mean occlusion time of (49.1 +/- 31.6) months. A total of 1499 stents were implanted to those target lesions., Results: Total success rates of patients and lesions were 90.2% (1036/1148) and 88.2% (1317/1494), respectively. The success rate of PCI was declined in CTO lesions with long occlusion time, stump missing, bridging collaterals and >or= 15 mm in length (P < 0.05). Operative failures were occurred in 112 patients. Guide wire and balloon failed to pass through the occlusion accounted for 82.1% and 17.9% of all failures respectively. No death was occurred during operation, but 2 patients suffered from acute stent thrombosis and other 9 patients suffered from acute or later pericardium perforation. After procedure, there were 3 patients died and 3 patients suffered from subacute stent thrombosis during in-hospital period. The total in-hospital major adverse cardiac events rate was 0.6% (7/1148). The angina-free survival rate was 87.1% at discharge., Conclusion: In an experienced heart center, it is possible to obtain a relatively high success rate of PCI and ideal clinical outcomes in patients with CTO coronary lesions.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) combined cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for refractory heart failure secondary to ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM)., Methods: PCI and CRT were performed in 7 ICM patients confirmed by angiography with NYHA class IV, QRS duration >/= 130 ms in 6 of them, III degrees AVB in 1 patient, fast ventricular heart rate Af in 1 patient, ventricular fibrillation history in 2 patient. All of them had their LVEDD >/= 55 mm, and LVEF

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of protective measures for renal function during interventional procedures in patients with chronic renal insufficiency., Methods: Changes in renal function in 90 patients of coronary artery disease with chronic renal insufficiency admitted from January 1994 to July 2002 during intraoperative intervention were analyzed. These patients were divided into three groups: in group A patients underwent coronary angiography (SCA) with conventional peri-intervention treatment; in group B patients underwent SCA and treated with low dose dopamine plus saline hydration peri-intervention; in group C patients underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stenting, and treated with low dose dopamine plus saline hydration during peri-intervention., Results: Coronary intervention was successful in all patients of three groups. Contrast medium-associated nephropathy (CAN) was found in 28 patients after the procedures, and them 11 occurred in group A (36.7%), 5 in group B (16.7%), and 12 in group C (40.0%), respectively. The incidence of CAN was highest in group C, and lowest in group B (P<0.01). All patients recovered and discharged after medical treatment, and no hemodialysis was necessary. Higher incidence of CAN was found in patients with congestive heart failure than patients without heart failure (64.5%, 20/31 cases vs. 13.6%, 8/59 cases; P<0.01), and also higher incidence of CAN was found in diabetic patients than non-diabetic patients (42.6 , 23/54 cases vs. 13.9%, 5/36 cases; P<0.01)., Conclusion: The patients with coronary artery disease with chronic renal insufficiency are able to tolerate the interventional procedures well with safety and ideal prognosis, if they are properly protected with dopamine and fluid during the procedure.