title: Baseline characteristics and therapeutic goals in the New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) registry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) voluntary registry was designed to study the use, safety, and efficacy of new percutaneous transluminal interventional devices including directional coronary atherectomy, the transluminal extraction catheter, the rotablator, the Palmaz-Schatz stent, the Gianturco-Roubin stent, the Advanced Interventional Systems (AIS) laser, and the spectranetics laser.
  
  
  METHODS
  To date, more than 3800 consecutive patients treated for the first time with a new device at 41 centers have been entered into the registry. Complete detailed information about the patient, lesions, device characteristics, reasons for device selection, and procedural data, such as adjunctive use of conventional balloon angioplasty (PTCA), was available for the first 2835 patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The registry shows that 88% of the 3233 attempts with a new device were intended as a definitive treatment of target lesions, frequently in combination with adjunctive PTCA. The remaining 12% of attempts with a new device were unplanned, prompted by unexpected complications, unsuccessful attempts, or suboptimal results with PTCA. Although there was some overlap in the indications for selecting a given interventional device, the variation from device to device was sufficiently large to caution users against any direct comparison of either safety or efficacy between devices without careful attention to the differences in baseline patient and lesion characteristics, treatment plans, and the circumstances of device use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This report provides the first comprehensive overview of how new interventional devices are currently being used in the treatment of coronary artery lesions at the 41 centers participating in the NACI registry.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Detre
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buchbinder
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Desvigne-Nickens
authors.forename: N W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Fishman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hinohara
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Kennard
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Litvack
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Popma
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000601:surgery; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D017225:Atherectomy, Coronary; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D012042:Registries; D015607:Stents