title: Percutaneous coronary intervention of unprotected left main coronary artery in the emergent/urgent setting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment of unprotected left main coronary disease by percutaneous interventions, even in the urgent setting, is still not an approved indication. However, the evolution of transcatheter technology and supporting devices, along with greater skill in high-volume centers, led the interventional community to deal with these cases. This study aimed to investigate whether the percutaneous approach in this cohort could be a viable alternative to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in the urgent setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 51 acute myocardial infarction patients with left main disease as the culprit lesion and treated them by percutaneous coronary intervention. This cohort was followed for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in-hospital and at 30 days, 6 months and 1 year, and was compared with a population of 35 CABG patients matched for clinical and angiographic characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The estimated MACCE-free survival at 6 months and 1 year was 90% and 88%, respectively. The overall MACCE was 6%. Analysis of the surgical cohort showed an overall MACCE of 17%. In the final Cox model, significant predictors of MACCE were Parsonnet score for surgical risk (HR 1.93, 95% CI 1.15-7.3; p = 0.04) and diabetes mellitus (HR 1.73, 95% CI 1.03-3.8; p = 0.038).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Angioplasty for unprotected left main coronary disease in the urgent clinical setting is feasible, showing a relatively low short- and long-term rate of MACCE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology Unit, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel. ahendler@asaf.health.gov.il
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hendler
authors.forename: Edo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaluski
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blatt
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gurevich
authors.forename: Izhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zyssman
authors.forename: Zvi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Vered
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Danicek
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krakover
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome