title: Chronic total occlusions in Sweden--a report from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence for the current guidelines for the treatment of patients with chronic total occlusions (CTO) in coronary arteries is limited. In this study we identified all CTO patients registered in the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR) and studied the prevalence, patient characteristics and treatment decisions for CTO in Sweden.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between January 2005 and January 2012, 276,931 procedures (coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention) were performed in 215,836 patients registered in SCAAR. We identified all patients who had 100% luminal diameter stenosis known or assumed to be ≥ 3 months old. After exclusion of patients with previous coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or coronary occlusions due to acute coronary syndrome, we identified 16,818 CTO patients. A CTO was present in 10.9% of all coronary angiographies and in 16.0% of patients with coronary artery disease. The majority of CTO patients were treated conservatively and PCI of CTO accounted for only 5.8% of all PCI procedures. CTO patients with diabetes and multivessel disease were more likely to be referred to CABG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CTO is a common finding in Swedish patients undergoing coronary angiography but the number of CTO procedures in Sweden is low. Patients with CTO are a high-risk subgroup of patients with coronary artery disease. SCAAR has the largest register of CTO patients and therefore may be valuable for studies of clinical importance of CTO and optimal treatment for CTO patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Truls
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Råmunddal
authors.forename: Loes P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Hoebers
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Loes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoebers
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jose P S
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Henriques
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dworeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Oskar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Angerås
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Odenstedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ioanes
authors.affiliation: Department of Coronary Heart Disease, Skåne University Hospital, Scania, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Olivecrona
authors.affiliation: Department of Coronary Heart Disease, Skåne University Hospital, Scania, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harnek
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Stockholm South General Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Stockholm South General Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aasa
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Stockholm South General Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jussila
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lagerqvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matejka
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Albertsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elmir
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Omerovic
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D054059:Coronary Occlusion / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology