title: Percutaneous unprotected left main angioplasty with drug-eluting stents in a nonagenarian: feasible and safe despite recurrent restenosis.
abstract: The management of severe coronary artery disease in the very elderly is challenging and the most appropriate revascularization strategy highly debated. To date, coronary artery bypass surgery has been the treatment of choice for significant stenosis of unprotected left main (ULM) coronary. Whether this holds true also in very old patients is unknown. The Authors hereby report the case of a 91-year-old diabetic man who underwent coronary angiography in June 2005 for subacute unstable angina. Angiography disclosed a critical stenoses in the distal unprotected left main, left anterior descending, and distal left circumflex, which were treated with a paclitaxel-eluting stent and a bare-metal stent (BMS), respectively. Four months later, recurrent angina lead to a second angiography which showed critical restenosis in the left anterior descending and significant ostial stenosis in the left circumflex. Another paclitaxel-eluting stent was implanted in the left anterior descending, followed by kissing balloon in the left main, achieving a good angiographic result. Six months later angina recurred again: at angiography diffuse restenosis in the left main, left anterior descending and left circumflex was documented. A crushing technique was thus employed to deliver 2 sirolimus-eluting stents, achieving a satisfactory final result. Since then, and to date for more than 17 months since the last procedure, this nonagenarian has remained free from anginal chest. This case highlights the potentials and drawbacks of percutaneous coronary intervention for unprotected left main disease, suggesting nonetheless, that this revascularization strategy can be safely repeated even in elderly patients.
authors.affiliation: Interventional Cardiology, Division of Cardiology, University of Turin, San Giovanni Battista-Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sillano
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Biondi-Zoccai
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sheiban
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000628:therapy; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents / Q000009:adverse effects; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011859:Radiography; D012008:Recurrence; D019233:Retreatment; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D050257:Tubulin Modulators / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D050257:Tubulin Modulators; D017239:Paclitaxel