Clinical and angiographic outcome in the laser angioplasty for restenotic stents (LARS) multicenter registry.

In-stent restenosis (ISR), when treated with balloon angioplasty (PTCA) alone, has an angiographic recurrence rate of 30%-85%. Ablating the hypertrophic neointimal tissue prior to PTCA is an attractive alternative, yet the late outcomes of such treatment have not been fully determined. This multicenter case control study assessed the angiographic and clinical outcomes of 157 consecutive procedures in 146 patients with ISR at nine institutions treated with either PTCA alone (n = 64) or excimer laser assisted coronary angioplasty (ELCA, n = 93)) for ISR. Demographics were similar except more unstable angina at presentation in ELCA-treated patients (74.5% vs. 63.5%; P = 0.141). Lesions selected for ELCA were longer (16.8 +/- 11.2 mm vs. 11.2 +/- 8.6 mm; P < 0.001), more complex (ACC/AHA type C: 35.1% vs. 13.6%; P < 0.001), and with compromised antegrade flow (TIMI flow < 3: 18.9% vs. 4.5%; P = 0.008) compared to PTCA-treated patients. ELCA-treated patients had similar rate of procedural success [93 (98.9% vs. 62 (98.4%); P = 1.0] and major clinical complications [1 (1.1%) vs. 1 (1.6%); P = 1.0]. At 30 days, repeat target site coronary intervention was lower in ELCA-treated patients (1.1% vs. 6.4% in PTCA-treated patients; P = 0.158), but not significantly so. At 1 year, ELCA-treated patients had similar rate of major cardiac events (39.1% vs. 45.2%; P = 0.456) and target lesion revascularization (30.0% vs. 32.3%; P = 0.646). These data suggest that ELCA in patients with complex in-stent restenosis is as safe and effective as balloon angioplasty alone. Despite higher lesion complexity in ELCA-treated patients, no increase in event rates was observed. Future studies should evaluate the relative benefit of ELCA over PTCA alone for the prevention of symptom recurrence specifically in patients with complex in-stent restenosis.

Impaired fibrinolytic capacity and tissue plasminogen activator release in patients with restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).

To assess the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), we determined the components of this system in a retrospective study, including 16 patients with restenosis (gr. A) and 19 patients with long-term success (gr. B). In both groups at baseline fibrinolytic activity (FA) is unchanged, whereas tissue plasminogen activator antigen (tPA-Ag) is significantly increased (gr. A: 147.0%; gr. B: 139.8%; p less than 0.01). Fibrinolytic capacity (FC) and tPA-Ag release are significantly reduced in the restenosis group (FC: 46.5%, p less than 0.05; tPA-Ag release: 48.3%, p less than 0.01) compared to normal controls as well as to gr. B (FC: 84.3%, p less than 0.05; tPA-Ag release: 79.0%, p less than 0.05). Relating to the contact activation system, F XII (79.5%, p less than 0.05) is significantly, and F XI (82.3%) is clearly reduced in gr. A. Protein C (PC) is significantly elevated in gr. B (117.5%, p less than 0.05). There is a negative correlation between plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI 1) and HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.37, p less than 0.05). It appears, that there is a typical pattern of defective fibrinolysis in patients with restenosis after PTCA and that this might be a pathogenetic factor in the development of restenosis.

Coronary thrombolysis with intracoronary streptokinase.

Because there are several means by which a clinician may pharmacologically activate the fibrinolytic system for thrombolysis, the clinician must understand the clinical ramifications of the use of each pharmacologic agent. Intracoronary streptokinase is one such agent whose therapeutic use, although effective in many cases, must not be taken lightly. This article, therefore, reviews the pharmacology, therapeutic uses, and possible complications that could arise as a result of intracoronary streptokinase.

Implications of precordial ST segment depression during acute inferior myocardial infarction. Arteriographic and ventriculographic correlations during the acute phase.

Thirty two patients presenting with acute transmural inferior wall myocardial infarction underwent cardiac catheterisation and angiography within 12 hours of the onset symptoms. Twelve lead electrocardiograms performed within one hour of catheterisation showed ST segment depression in the anterior precordial leads in addition to inferior wall changes in 17 patients and no ST segment changes in the anterior leads in 15. When the clinical, arteriographic, and ventriculographic variables were compared between the two groups no significant differences were noted with regard to age, sex, risk factors for coronary disease, duration of symptoms before angiography, Killip class, number of inferior leads with ST segment elevation, or initial serum creatine kinase activity. The extent of coronary artery disease as well as the prevalence of severe disease in the left anterior descending artery were similar for both groups. Biplane left ventriculography showed no significant differences between the two groups with regard to global ejection fraction or to the prevalence of posterolateral or anterior segmental wall motion abnormalities.

Patterns of creatine kinase release during acute myocardial infarction after nonsurgical reperfusion: comparison with conventional treatment and correlation with infarct size.

Coronary arteriography and biplane ventriculography were performed in 51 patients during the acute (mean of 6.6 hours after onset of symptoms) and chronic (1 to 3 months after admission) phase of myocardial infarction. Twenty-four patients were treated in a conventional manner. In 27 patients, reperfusion was achieved with intracoronary streptokinase after 24 +/- 20 minutes of infusion. Peak creatine kinase and cumulative creatine kinase release were derived from serial creatine kinase measurements. Ejection fraction and the length of the akinetic or dyskinetic segments were calculated in the chronic phase. The time interval between onset of symptoms and peak creatine kinase was significantly shorter for the streptokinase-treated patients as compared with the conventionally treated patients (13.5 +/- 5.3 versus 22.9 +/- 7.4 hours, p = 0.0001). Significant linear correlations were obtained for both streptokinase-treated and control patients, relating: 1) peak creatine kinase value to both length of the noncontracting segment and ejection fraction in the chronic phase, and 2) cumulative creatine kinase release to both length of the noncontracting segment and ejection fraction in the chronic phase. Patients treated with streptokinase experienced a relatively greater release of enzyme for a given infarct size as compared with those treated in a conventional manner. The difference in enzyme release between the two groups increased as infarct size increased. These observations may be explained by enhanced washout of enzyme from the infarct zone, secondary to reperfusion after intracoronary streptokinase therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Angiographic study of the infarct-related coronary artery in the chronic stage of acute myocardial infarction.

We and others have demonstrated a high prevalence of total coronary occlusion during the acute phase of myocardial infarction (MI). This study reports the angiographic appearance of the infarct-related artery (IRA) in 130 patients with a history of MI, who underwent cardiac catheterization 2 weeks to more than 12 months afterwards. The IRA was the left anterior descending in 47%, the right coronary artery in 50%, and the circumflex in 3% of cases. Total coronary occlusion was found in 80% of patients studied 2 to 4 weeks after MI, and decreased gradually reaching 40% of those studied after 12 months of MI. In those patients with a patent IRA, severe stenosis remained: 99% obstruction at 2 to 4 weeks, decreasing to 85.9% obstruction after 12 months (p less than 0.005). The prevalence of total coronary occlusion (TCO) and the severity of stenosis in those without TCO was similar in those with transmural or nontransmural MI and in those with one-, two- or three-vessel disease. This study suggests that endogenous lysis is probably a slow process, and that severe coronary narrowing persists in those with recanalization.

Electrocardiographic changes after streptokinase-induced recanalization in patients with acute left anterior descending artery obstruction.

ECG changes were assessed in 15 patients in whom intracoronary streptokinase recanalized a totally occluded left anterior descending artery during acute myocardial infarction. These results were compared retrospectively with those in 22 comparable conventionally treated patients who underwent catheterization during the acute stage of infarction. Before angiography no significant differences were found in the sum of ST elevation (sigma ST increase V1-V6), the sum of R waves (sigma RV1-V6), or the number of Q waves (nQV1-V6) in leads V1 through V6. sigma ST increase V1-V6 was significantly lower in the streptokinase group than in control patients at all times after angiography. sigma RV1-V6 declined and nQV1-V6 increased in both groups during the first 12 hr, but there was no further change in the control group, whereas in the streptokinase group a significant increase in sigma RV1-V6 and decrease in nQV1-V6 followed. There was a significant correlation between long-term electrocardiographic (sigma RV1-V6; nQV1-V6) and angiographic findings (ejection fraction, akinetic segment length). Thus, the Q wave regression and increase in sigma RV1-V6 after streptokinase suggest, in accordance with angiographic findings, that jeopardized myocardium was salvaged by reperfusion.

Changes in left ventricular ejection fraction after intracoronary thrombolytic therapy. Results of the Registry of the European Society of Cardiology.

Changes of left ventricular ejection fraction (delta EF) determined by monoplane contrast angiography before intracoronary streptokinase infusion and in the chronic stage of infarction before hospital discharge were assessed in 125 patients. Preintervention EF was .49 +/- .136 and chronic EF was .025 +/- .118 higher (p = .02) in the total group. Some subgroups had an improved EF: patients with collaterals (delta EF = .046 +/- .106, p less than .01, n = 42), patients with incomplete obstruction before intervention (delta EF = + .076 +/- .141, p = .03, n = 19) and patients in whom complete obstruction was permanently recanalized (delta EF = .024 +/- .113, p = .04, n = 89). A continuous model relating delta EF to both duration of infarct symptoms before hospital admission and to preintervention EF showed a decline in EF improvement over time in the subgroup that was admitted within less than 6 hours after the onset of chest pain and successfully recanalized (n = 72).

[Coronary angiography in chronic and acute coronary artery disease. Advantages of a low osmolality contrast medium]. / Koronarangiographie im chronischen und akuten Stadium der koronaren Herzkrankheit. Vorteile eines niederosmolaren Kontrastmittels.

The advantages of a new low osmolality contrast medium (sodium meglumine ioxaglate) in clinical coronary angiography are demonstrated at two groups of patients in comparison to sodium meglumine diatrizoate. One group included patients undergoing diagnostic angiography in chronic state of CHD, the other during diagnosis and therapy (intracoronary lysis) in state of acute myocardial infarction. Injection of the low osmolality contrast material was followed in both groups by significant reduction of pressure drop and cardiac slowing. In both groups there was also a reduction of changes in ECG compared to side effects of the conventional contrast material.

[Recanalization by intracoronary infusion of streptokinase in acute myocardial infarction. Hospital course in 204 patients (author's transl)]. / Selektive Thrombolyse mit Streptokinase beim akuten Herzinfarkt Stationärer Verlauf bei 204 Patienten.

A multicenter study evaluated the early management and subsequent hospital course of 204 patients with acute myocardial infarction who were receiving intracoronary infusions of streptokinase (STK). The in-hospital mortality in 37 patients with thrombotic occlusion of the infarct-related vessel, in whom recanalization could not be achieved, was 24%. However, the cardiac mortality in 129 patients who were successfully treated by percutaneous transluminal coronary recanalization (PTCR) was only 5.4%. Cardiac deaths (5 patients) and nonfatal reinfarctions (20 patients) occurred in the early period in the cardiac care unit (CCU) in 21% of the latter group and, despite anticoagulation measures, could not be consistently prevented. Hemorrhagic complications, necessitating blood transfusion, occurred in 15 (7.4%) of the total 204 patients in the group, usually in the acute CCU stage, and were positively related to decline of fibrinogen serum concentrations below 100 mg/dl and to use of the Judkins technique. The later course of most of the patients on the general ward was uneventful until hospital discharge. Thus there were only 2 more cardiac deaths, and of 64 successfully treated STK-PTCR patients who left the CCU without clinical indications of reinfarction and agreed to repeat coronary angiography before hospital discharge, the infarct-related vessel was patent in 59 patients and reoccluded in only 5 (7.8%).

Percutaneous transluminal coronary artery recanalization in evolving myocardial infarction.

A brief description of recanalization of the thrombotic coronary artery is provided, including the historical background and our own first experience of recanalization during the event of an acute catheter complication. Mechanical recanalization of occluded coronary arteries as initially performed by us is described. The subsequent use of intracoronary infusion of streptokinase is also detailed. An account is given of the angiographic and clinical results in a study of 59 patients. We then consider the encountered and potential complications of percutaneous transluminal coronary artery recanalization (PTCR) based on a study of 232 acute infarction patients treated in four different centers. A discussion of the potential benefits of the intervention is provided, including lower mortality in a patient subgroup that underwent successful recanalization, as well as improved left ventricular function as seen angiographically in successfully recanalized patients. Use of intracoronary thallium injections before and after recanalization is discussed. It is stated that precise delineation of efforts will require randomized control trials. Finally, we provide some suggestions as to the potential follow-up treatment and future development of the technique.