title: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of stenotic saphenous vein right coronary bypass grafts utilizing a peripheral balloon dilatation catheter without a guiding catheter.
abstract: Effective angioplasty of stenosed saphenous vein coronary bypass grafts may be impossible with the standard-size coronary dilatation catheters because the large diameter of these grafts results in unacceptable balloon-to-vessel ratios. We avoided this problem by using a peripheral arterial dilatation catheter with an inflation diameter of 6 mm and obtained a satisfactory short- and long-term result in two patients in whom previous attempts with the largest coronary dilatation catheter (4 mm) had failed. This technique, which precludes the use of a guiding catheter, is suitable only for right bypass grafts.
authors.affiliation: Toronto General Hospital, Department of Medicine, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arafah
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Aldridge
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation*