Predictors for Successful Angioplasty of Chronic Totally Occluded Coronary Arteries

Aims: Reevaluation of clinical and angiographic predictors for percutaneous recanalization of coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) using current techniques with conventional PTCA wires and balloons. Methods and Results: We studied 253 consecutive patients with 283 lesions who underwent attempted PTCA of CTO (mean time since occlusion 33 months, range 3–150 month). Immediate procedural success rate was 84.8% (95% CI = 80.3%–88.6%). Multiple clinical and angiographic characteristics were evaluated as possible predictors of success/failure. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that a tapered morphology (P < 0.001, OR = 6.1; 95% CI = 2.1–18.2), ≤45 degree of angulations of the target artery (P < 0.03, OR = 4.5; 95% CI = 1.2–17.2), length of occlusion