title: [Transluminal percutaneous coronary angioplasty of the left coronary artery].
abstract: This paper describes our preliminary experience with left main coronary angioplasty in 8 patients (9 procedures). In 6 patients the left main coronary artery was "protected" either by previous by-pass surgery (4 patients) or by collateral vessels from the right coronary artery (2 patients). Three patients had a total occlusion of the left main coronary artery and 2 of them had a recent or acute myocardial infarction and the coronary angiogram suggested a thrombotic occlusion of the infarct-related artery. Three patients were not considered surgical candidates and an additional patient, who was in cardiogenic shock, required an emergency coronary angioplasty as "rescue" procedure. A successful dilatation was achieved in 6 patients (including a patient with successful deployment of a Palmaz-Schatz stent) but, unfortunately, one them eventually died 7 days later from a femoral sepsis related to the procedure. However in the 2 remaining patients--with a total occlusion of the left main coronary artery in relation with a myocardial infarction--the dilatation procedures were unsuccessful. One patient underwent a successful repeat coronary angioplasty for restenosis of left main coronary artery. Our preliminary experience confirms previous reports suggesting the value of coronary angioplasty in patients with left main coronary artery disease providing a careful selection of possible candidates is performed prior to the procedure.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Exploración Cardiopulmonar, Hospital Universitario San Carlos, Madrid.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alfonso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macaya
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iñíguez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goicolea
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Ortiz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zamorano
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casado
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zarco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D015607:Stents
vernacular_title: Angioplastia coronaria transluminal percutánea del tronco coronario izquierdo.