Intravascular Ultrasound in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Chronic Total Occlusion

Abstract

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusion (CTO) is one of the most challenging procedures in interventional cardiology. New techniques and devices have made possible to face these complex procedures. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) reveals special features and contributes greatly to procedural success. Method: We analysed retrospectively IVUS contribution and findings in 23 cases of a total 46 CTOs PCI from February 2009 to August 2010 in our cath lab. Both true and functional CTO were included in this study. The procedure was considered successful when a TIMI III flow was reached in the occluded vessel after stent implantation with a residual stenosis less than 30%. IVUS features and contribution in CTO-PCI were analysed. All data were introduced in SPSS version 15 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Illinois, USA). Continuous variables were described by mean ± SD and categorical variables were expressed as percentage. A P