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Background: Data on effectiveness and safety following the implantation of very long segments of drug-eluting stents (DES) are lacking., Aim: To describe our experience of consecutive patients undergoing implantation of very long segments of DES (> 50 mm) in de novo coronary lesions., Methods: We evaluated major in-hospital complications, target lesion revascularization (TLR) rates and long-term outcomes in 88 consecutive patients (91 procedures) who underwent a single-vessel intervention with implantation of > 50 mm of overlapping DES to de novo lesions between October 2002 and October 2007. An additional 14 patients with long segments of in-stent restenosis, 10 receiving both DES and bare-metal stents for long-segment disease and 1 with long-segment disease in a saphenous vein graft were excluded from the study. Baseline clinical data, procedural outcomes and completed follow up were collected prospectively., Results: Follow up was 100% complete up to April 30, 2008. The mean follow up was 26.5 months (6-60 months). The mean stent length was 70.6 mm (51-135 mm) and the average number of stents per vessel was 2.7 (2-5 stents). Acute complications included 1 case of acute stent thrombosis which was treated successfully, 1 case of aortic root dissection, and 1 case of retroperitoneal hemorrhage. The rate of non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (CKMB > 3 times normal) was 8%. During follow up, the rate of TLR was 6.5%. Five patients died, 4 of them due to noncardiac conditions. One death was attributed to possible late stent thrombosis (18 months) occurring suddenly 2 days post keloid repair. Two patients had definite very late stent thrombosis at 14 and 17 months., Conclusion: In our experience, the use of very long segments of DES is effective in treating diffuse de novo coronary artery lesions. However, longer-term follow up is necessary and more data are required to determine the optimum duration of dual antiplatelet therapy.

Background: We report the late outcomes in 411 consecutive patients undergoing drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation by a single operator between 2003-2006., Methods: Prospective registry with continuous follow up. Patients with stable angina (SA) or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) received DES for long lesions, small vessels, chronic total occlusion, bifurcation, aorto-ostial, left main, post atherectomy or saphenous vein graft lesions, multivessel/multilesion single-vessel (V) disease, in-stent restenosis (ISR) or diabetes., Results: Age range: 34-86 years. One hundred sixty-six (40.3%) had ACS, 98.3% hypercholesterolemia and 14.6% diabetes. Two hundred sixty-one (63.5%) had percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to 1V and 150 (36.5%) to >1V. Six hundred seven V were treated. Two hundred fifty-nine patients (63%) had multilesion PCI, and 109 (26.5%) 1V multilesion PCI. Two hundred ninety-three (71.3%) patients had long lesions and 224 had Vs < 2.75 mm diameter. 75.5% of lesions were Type B2/C. 1-8 stents were implanted/patient. Eight hundred twenty-two of 883 stents were DES. One hundred eight patients received > or = 1 stent of < or = 2.5 mm diameter and 246 patients received stents greater than or equal to 20 mm long. Twenty-five patients developed late complications. ISR occurred in 23, 3.5-38 months after DES implantation. Three had sudden late DES thrombosis (LST). One-third also had ISR. Twenty of twenty-five required PCI, 1 CABG and 4 medical treatment. Subsequently, 3 of the 20 required further PCI for recurrent ISR and 1 CABG. 9 patients died during 1-5-year follow up., Conclusions: In "real-world" patients at increased risk of ISR after bare-metal stenting (BMS), "off-label" DES implantation has a low incidence of late complications. The most common is ISR which presents later than after BMS. Acute LST is serious but unusual and may be accompanied by ISR.

Background and Objective: Complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) often requires introduction of numerous devices into and out of the arterial circulation and this may result in an increased risk of bacteraemia or even septicaemia. This study was undertaken to detect the frequency of bacteraemia that may be associated with such procedures., Methods: 147 patients undergoing complex PCI had blood culture tests immediately after and 12 hours after the procedure., Results: Of 147 patients, 26 (17.7%) had detectable bacteraemia immediately after PCI. Coagulase-negative staphylococcus was isolated most commonly. An additional 12% of patients yielded positive blood cultures in the next 12 hours with femoral sheaths still in-situ. There were no associated clinical sequelae., Conclusions: Uncomplicated bacteraemia is not uncommon as a result of complex PCI procedures. Although there are usually no clinical sequelae, these findings are important for those patients who are considered to be at moderate or high risk of infective endocarditis who require an invasive procedure such as PCI. This paper emphasizes the need for maximum sterility during PCI procedures if infective complications and stent infection are to be avoided.

We evaluated the current short- and medium-term outcomes of complete revascularization, compared to culprit lesion percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), in patients with multivessel coronary disease presenting with unstable angina. One hundred fifty-one patients with multivessel coronary disease presented to a tertiary cardiothoracic center with unstable angina/non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (UA/NSTEMI) between January 2000 and September 2001. In group A (n=71), the intended strategy was complete revascularization by multivessel PCI. In group B (n=80), culprit lesion PCI was intended despite the presence of other lesions amenable to PCI (B1) or due to confounding anatomical factors (B2). Clinical variables and endpoints were collected from patient notes, a dedicated database and telephone follow-up, and included recurrent stable and unstable angina, need for repeat PCI or elective coronary artery bypass graft, incidence of non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and death. Baseline characteristics were similar in each group. Procedural success was achieved in over 95% of cases in both groups with high stent implantation rates (>96%). There was no observed difference in mortality or incidence of MI between the groups. Compared to group A, more patients in group B1 had residual angina [22.8% (13/57) versus 9.9% (7/71); p=0.041] and required further PCI [17.5% (10/57) versus 7.0% (5/71); p=0.045]. There was a non-significant trend toward fewer readmissions for UA and less long-term antianginal medication in group A [38.0% (27/71) versus 52.6% (30/57); p=0.043]. Complete and culprit lesion revascularization by PCI are safe methods of treating patients with multivessel coronary disease presenting with UA/NSTEMI. Reductions in residual angina, repeat PCI and need for antianginal therapies suggest that complete revascularization should be the strategy of choice when possible.

We present a case of a left internal mammary artery (LIMA) originating from the third part of the subclavian artery. Awareness of this possibility is particularly important when considering reintervention after coronary artery bypass surgery and the LIMA appears to be missing rather than obviously occluded.

The X-SIZER thromboatherectomy catheter system (EndiCOR Medical, Inc.) was initially developed for the treatment of thrombus in acute coronary syndromes. We present the case of a 64-year-old man with thrombotic occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery. Antegrade flow was restored by aspiration of platelet thrombus at the point of occlusion, although the catheter was unable to cross the underlying stenosis. Its limited ability to cross severe stenoses or reduce lesion severity suggests that the X-SIZER should not be regarded as an atherectomy device. However, this case report suggests that the X-SIZER device has potential as an adjunct to PTCA and stenting in reducing the risk associated with thrombotic occlusion.

A 58-year-old man re-presented with symptoms of angina 3 months after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stenting to his proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD). Angiography revealed ostial in-stent restenosis of the LAD, which was treated with rotational atherectomy and a cutting balloon PTCA. Combining two useful technologies for treating in-stent restenosis may prove to yield better results than using either technique alone. Long-term benefit will need to be assessed by randomized studies.

A 59-year-old man presented with worsening angina and a cold, painful left hand, eight years after coronary artery bypass surgery. Coronary angiography showed extensive coronary atherosclerosis with blocked vein grafts to his left circumflex and right coronary arteries. There was a severe narrowing in the left subclavian artery before the origin of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) which appeared patent. PTCA and stent implantation to the left subclavian artery stenosis restored normal flow to the left hand and the LIMA with abolition of his ischemic hand symptoms and marked improvement of his angina.

We describe the use of the Rotablator device to allow sidebranch access via the side-wall of a stent when it has proved impossible to pass even the lowest profile balloon catheter through the struts N a situation of "true stent jail".

Anomalous coronary arteries are rare and single coronary arteries are very rare congenital abnormalities. Significant stenoses within these arteries have been described, but interventional procedures on such anomalies are very infrequently performed. We describe a patient with angina pectoris and a single left coronary artery with multiple lesions treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and intra-coronary stent implantation. Our case shows that when the anatomy is not too abnormal, even multivessel PTCA and stent employment can be performed successfully in single coronary arteries.