Excimer laser-assisted coronary angioplasty for lesions containing thrombus.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to analyze the success rates for excimer laser-assisted coronary angioplasty performed in patients undergoing angioplasty for lesions containing thrombus.


BACKGROUND
The presence of intracoronary thrombus increases the risk of a poor clinical outcome after balloon angioplasty. The effect of intracoronary thrombus on the safety and efficacy of excimer laser-assisted coronary angioplasty is unknown.


METHODS
Percutaneous excimer laser-assisted coronary angioplasty was attempted in 142 patients, of whom 12 had angiographic evidence of intracoronary thrombus in 14 lesions, defined as a filling defect surrounded by contrast medium or an area of contrast staining.


RESULTS
Clinical success (< 50% residual stenosis without myocardial infarction, death or bypass surgery at any time during hospitalization) was achieved in 7 (58%) of the 12 patients with intracoronary thrombus, compared with 123 (95%) of the 130 patients without thrombus (p = 0.00001). Angiographic and clinical complications were more common in patients with thrombus: embolization (25% vs. 1%, p < 0.001), myocardial infarction (33% vs. 2%, p < 0.001), abrupt closure (17% vs. 4%, p = 0.049). Angiographic restenosis at 6 months was seen at 7 (70%) of 10 treated sites with intracoronary thrombus and at 59 (51%) of 116 sites without thrombus (p = 0.245). Presence of intracoronary thrombus was identified as the most important predictor of clinical success (p = 0.013) by multivariable logistic regression analysis, which controlled for other co-variables, such as lesion complexity or lesion location in a saphenous vein graft.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis shows that the success of excimer laser-assisted coronary angioplasty is compromised when thrombus is detected angiographically. Further investigation of other strategies is needed to improve the outcome of angioplasty for this challenging problem.
Estella
P
P
Department of Medicine, Brigham and women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Ryan
T J
TJ
Landzberg
J S
JS
Bittl
J A
JA
D000368:Aged; D017222:Angioplasty, Balloon, Laser-Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome