title: Percutaneous coronary intervention for small vessel coronary artery disease.
abstract: Symptomatic coronary artery disease may be commonly due to significant atherosclerotic disease involving coronary vessels of relatively small caliber (i.e., with reference vessel diameter <2.75 mm). Whenever medical therapy fails and in other selected cases, revascularization by means of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or bypass surgery is indicated even for small vessel coronary disease. However, despite the numerous developments and improvements in devices and techniques, PCI of small coronary vessels is still fraught with a significant risk of midterm restenosis after both balloon-only PCI and bare-metal stent implantation. Drug-eluting stents, especially those associated with very low angiographic late lumen loss (<0.20 mm), appear to significantly improve angiographic and clinical outcomes after PCI of small coronary vessels. The present article provides a concise and updated review on percutaneous coronary revascularization in patients with symptomatic small vessel coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Interventional Cardiology, Division of Cardiology, University of Turin, S. Giovanni Battista "Molinette" Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy. gbiondizoccai@gmail.com <gbiondizoccai@gmail.com>
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Biondi-Zoccai
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbate
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sheiban
mesh_terms: D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008670:Metals; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015607:Stents; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D008670:Metals