title: Clinical experience with the use of the angled-balloon dilatation catheter.
abstract: A special balloon catheter has been developed for use in coronary angioplasty. The balloon portion has a 135 degrees - 145 degrees angle at its mid portion. It is designed for stenosis located at an angle of the coronary artery. We investigated the use of this catheter in 39 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA): 29 men and 10 women. PTCA was attempted in 43 stenotic sites. Thirty-two stenoses were located at the angled portion of the dilated arteries. Eleven stenoses were located at the side branches of the acutely angled bifurcations. Twenty stenoses were in the right coronary artery distribution. Twenty-two stenoses were in the left coronary artery distribution. One stenosis was at the origin of the left internal mammary artery. Forty-one stenoses were angioplastied successfully (95.4%). No angiographic evidence of intimal tear or dissection was noted in all of the dilated vessels. Acute closure was not observed. The mean follow-up period was 239.5 days. Six patients (15.4%) were found to have restenosis. We conclude that the use of the angled-balloon dilatation catheter provides the potential benefit of reducing intimal trauma and dissection during PTCA of certain coronary anatomies--stenosis at the angled portion or at the takeoff of the side branch of a bifurcation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Saint Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL 60202.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vivekaphirat
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zapala
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Foschi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000628:therapy; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors