title: Cutting balloon coronary angioplasty--initial clinical experience.
abstract: The success of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is limited by acute occlusion and late restenosis. In 25 patients (20 men, 5 women, age range 36-81 years) coronary angioplasty was performed using a new cutting balloon into which 3-4 longitudinally orientated blades are incorporated so as to reduce the rate of severe dissections. In 12 patients stenoses were reduced from 83.9 +/- 7.8% to 28.4 +/- 10.7% (mean +/- SD) by the cutting balloon alone, using predilatation with a small conventional balloon in two cases. Thirteen other patients were additionally dilated with a conventional balloon because of a residual stenosis > 50% after cutting balloon angioplasty. Here the stenoses could be reduced from 78.1 +/- 8.7% to 29.1 +/- 11.3%. Six months follow-up angiography in 14 patients showed > 50% restenosis in two of seven patients dilated with a conventional balloon in addition to the cutting balloon, and in one of seven patients dilated with the cutting balloon alone but predilated with a small conventional balloon. These results show that coronary angioplasty by the new cutting balloon results in a stenosis reduction comparable with conventional balloons at a low complication rate. Available 6 months follow-up data show three restenoses in patients either pre- or postdilated by a conventional balloon and none in stand-alone cutting balloon cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Unterberg
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Buchwald
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barath
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kreuzer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wiegand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors