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Cardiac arrest (CA) is common and has been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock (CS). We sought to determine the prevalence, patient characteristics, and outcomes of CA in cardiovascular intensive care unit patients with CS. We queried cardiovascular intensive care unit admissions from 2007 to 2018 with an admission diagnosis of CS and compared patients with and without CA. Temporal trends were assessed using linear regression. The primary and secondary outcomes of in-hospital and 1-year mortality were analyzed using logistic regression and Cox proportional-hazards analysis, respectively. We included 1,498 patients, and CA was present in 510 patients (34%), with 258 (50.6% of patients with CA) having ventricular fibrillation (VF). Mean age was 68 ± 14 years, and 37% were females. The prevalence of CA decreased over time (from 43% in 2007 to 24% in 2018, p0.001). Hospital mortality was 33.3% and decreased over time in patients without CA (from 30% in 2007 to 22% in 2018, p = 0.05), but not in patients with CA (p = 0.71). CA was associated with a higher risk of hospital mortality (51.0% vs 24.2%, adjusted odds ratio 2.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.52 to 3.05, p0.001), with no difference between VF CA and non-VF CA (p = 0.64). CA was associated with higher 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.53, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.89, p0.001). In conclusion, CA is present in 1 of 3 of CS hospitalizations and confers a substantially higher risk of hospital and 1-year mortality with no improvement during our 12-year study period contrary to prevailing trends.

There are limited data on arrhythmias in acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS). Using a 17-year AMI-CS population from the National Inpatient Sample, we identified common arrhythmias - atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and atrioventricular blocks (AVB). Admissions with concomitant cardiac surgery were excluded. Outcomes of interest included temporal trends, predictors, in-hospital mortality, and resource utilization in cohorts with and without arrhythmias. Of the 420,319 admissions with AMI-CS during 2000 to 2016, arrhythmias were noted in 213,718 (51%). AF (45%), ventricular tachycardia (35%) and ventricular fibrillation (30%) were the most common arrhythmias. Compared with those without, the cohort w`ith arrhythmias was more often male, of white race, with ST-segment elevation AMI-CS presentation, and had higher rates of cardiac arrest and acute organ failure (all p0.001). Temporal trends of prevalence revealed a stable trend of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and declining trend in AVB. The cohort with arrhythmias had higher unadjusted (42% vs 41%; odds ratio [OR] 1.03 [95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.05]; p0.001), but not adjusted (OR 1.01 [95% CI 0.99 to 1.03]; p = 0.22) in-hospital mortality compared with those without. The cohort with arrhythmias had longer hospital stay (9 ± 10 vs 7 ± 9 days; p0.001) and higher hospitalization costs ($124,000 ± 146,000 vs $91,000 ± 115,000; p0.001). In the cohort with arrhythmias, older age, female sex, non-white race, higher co-morbidity, presence of acute organ failure, and cardiac arrest, predicted higher in-hospital mortality. In conclusion, cardiac arrhythmias in AMI-CS are a marker of higher illness severity and are associated with greater resource utilization.

The effectiveness of a pharmacoinvasive strategy consisting of fibrinolysis and transfer for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to primary PCI (PPCI) in patients presenting to non-PCI-capable hospitals with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is not well defined. We analyzed data from the Mayo Clinic STEMI database of patients treated with a pharmacoinvasive strategy (favored in those presenting early after symptom onset) or PPCI in a regional STEMI network from 2004 to 2012. A total of 364 and 1,337 patients were included in the pharmacoinvasive and PPCI groups, respectively. Patients in the PPCI group were older and more frequently had cardiogenic shock at the time of presentation (12.1% vs 7.7%, p = 0.018). Death from any cause occurred in 58 (16%) and 314 (23%) patients in the pharmacoinvasive and PPCI groups, respectively (median follow-up 3.9 and 4.4 years, respectively). In multivariate analyses adjusting for age, gender, and other variables for which the 2 groups differed at baseline, there was no significant difference between the 2 strategies for 30-day (hazard ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.36 to 1.21) or overall mortality (hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.63 to 1.12). Shorter door-to-balloon time was associated with increased effectiveness of PPCI (p for trend = 0.015), but there was no difference between the 2 strategies even when considering only the patients with door-to-balloon time in the lowest quartile. In conclusion, fibrinolysis followed by transfer for PCI represents a reasonable alternative when PPCI is not readily available especially in patients presenting early after symptom onset.

Potent platelet inhibition is one of the most important medical interventions to prevent ischemic complications during and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Practice has evolved with the introduction of potent oral P2Y12 inhibitors that provide quick, effective platelet inhibition, and the need for routine glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) has decreased. Additionally, a shorter duration of GPI infusion has been shown to be safe with adequate oral antiplatelet loading, but clinical outcome data are limited to eptifibatide. This single-center, retrospective cohort study analyzed in-hospital outcomes for patients who received adjunctive GPI therapy for PCI before and after an institution-wide switch to high-dose bolus tirofiban with shortened infusion from short-duration eptifibatide. The primary end point was a composite in-hospital outcome of major and minor bleeding and cardiovascular events (death, myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting, ischemic stroke, and target vessel revascularization). Secondary end points included bleeding and cardiovascular event types. A total of 357 and 446 patients received eptifibatide and tirofiban, respectively, from February 1, 2014 through September 30, 2017. Thirty five eptifibatide and 46 tirofiban patients experienced an in-hospital composite event (9.8% vs 10.3%, p = 0.81). There was no difference found between in-hospital bleeding (6.4% vs 5.4%, p = 0.52) or cardiovascular events (5.6% vs 6.5%, p = 0.60) with the use of eptifibatide or tirofiban, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed that patients with transradial access or an indication of unstable angina were less likely to experience an in-hospital composite event (OR 0.30 and 0.19, respectively, p

A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted on patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) before and after a practice change which reduced the infusion duration of eptifibatide from 18 hours to the time required for completion of a single vial of 75 mg initiated during PCI. Primary end points were inhospital cardiovascular events, target vessel revascularization, and major or minor bleeding. The secondary end point was drug cost. A total of 1,647 patients received the standard-duration infusion (18 hours), and 1,237 received the short-duration infusion. The median infusion times were 18.1 hours (interquartile range 17.7 to 18.7) and 6.6 hours (interquartile range 5.6 to 11.3) in the standard- and short-duration groups, respectively. No differences were found for the rate of inhospital cardiovascular events (2.0% vs 1.9%, respectively; p = 0.78) or inhospital revascularization (0.2% vs 0.3%, respectively; p = 0.68). Also, no statistically significant difference was observed in major bleeding (standard 4.3% vs short 4.4%; p = 0.94) or minor bleeding (standard 3.3% vs short 2.3%; p = 0.09). In conclusion, using a shortened infusion reduced eptifibatide use by an average of 1.6 vials at cost savings of $823 per patient and resulted in no difference in inhospital cardiovascular events, revascularization, or bleeding.

In patients receiving coronary stents treated with aspirin and coumadin, the peak incidence of stent thrombosis occurs on the fifth and sixth days following the implantation procedure. Little is known about the timing of stent thrombosis in patients treated with aspirin and ticlopidine. We compared the timing of coronary stent thrombosis in patients treated with ticlopidine and aspirin with the timing in those receiving coumadin and aspirin. A retrospective databank analysis was performed and 39 patients were identified who experienced stent thrombosis after successful coronary stent implantation. Of these, 21 had been treated with ticlopidine and aspirin and 18 with coumadin and aspirin therapy. The median time from stent implantation to stent thrombosis in the ticlopidine and aspirin group was 12 hours (interquartile range 6 to 72 hours) compared with 4 days in the coumadin and aspirin group (interquartile range 21 to 68 hours) (p

Although adjunctive abciximab therapy improves outcome after angioplasty or atherectomy, there are few data demonstrating its benefit for intracoronary stent implantation. We characterized patients receiving abciximab for stent placement in our practice and determined the impact of abciximab on outcome. Abciximab was introduced to our practice in April 1995 for percutaneous revascularization. Demographic, clinical, and angiographic variables that were independently associated with the use of abciximab for stent placement through 1996 (abciximab era) were examined. We then examined among all patients receiving stents from 1992 through 1996 (preabciximab and abciximab eras) whether the use of abciximab was independently associated with improved outcome (death, nonfatal Q-wave myocardial infarction, coronary bypass surgery, or target vessel percutaneous revascularization) in the hospital and at 30 days. The 30-day event rate was 7% for those who did or did not receive abciximab. The following characteristics were independently associated with the use of abciximab for stent placement in the abciximab era: thrombus before stent placement (chi-square 50.5), ≥2 stents implanted (chi-square 10.8), stent in venous graft (chi-square 7.4), calcific lesion (chi-square 5.8), and hypertension (chi-square 5.5). Among all patients receiving stents in the preabciximab and abciximab eras (n = 1,859), the presence of these characteristics was independently associated with worse outcome. Abciximab, however, did not improve outcome in the hospital (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 0.96 [0.58 to 1.58]) or at 30 days (0.87 [0.53 to 1.41]), even after adjusting for these characteristics. Abciximab for stent placement was used in high-risk patients in our practice but was not associated with improved outcome.

Patients (n = 611) after successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty were prospectively followed over 10 to 16 years for major adverse events. The effect of gender, extent of coronary artery disease, left ventricular dysfunction, and age on occurrence of adverse events were analyzed in detail. The incidence of death, Q-wave myocardial infarction, and coronary bypass surgery was 23.1%, 3.9%, and 32.7%, respectively. Men and women had similar mortality (p = 0.13) and Q-wave myocardial infarction (p = 0.57), but men had more coronary bypass surgery (p = 0.06). Patients with multivessel disease had higher mortality (p0.0001), and patients with 3-vessel disease had a higher incidence of Q-wave myocardial infarction (p = 0.04) and coronary bypass surgery (p0.001). Left ventricular dysfunction was associated with higher mortality (p0.0001) and coronary bypass surgery (p = 0.045), but not Q-wave myocardial infarction (p = 0.99). Mortality was higher in elderly patients (p0.0001), but the incidence of Q-wave myocardial infarction was similar (p = 0.64). Older patients underwent coronary bypass surgery less often (p = 0.004). By multivariate analysis, only the extent of coronary disease (relative risk [RR] 1.71, confidence interval [CI] 1.34 to 2.19; p = 0.0001), diabetes mellitus (RR 1.82, CI 1.28 to 2.59; p = 0.001), hypertension (RR 1.30, CI 1.08 to 1.96, p = 0.009), male gender (RR 1.30, CI 0.99 to 1.71, p = 0.058), and prior myocardial infarction (RR 1.44, CI 1.14 to 1.81, p = 0.002) independently influenced the incidence of major adverse events. We conclude that it is possible to identify patients with worse long-term prognosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty based on clinical and angiographic parameters.

To analyze the clinical and anatomic findings of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty for mild angina, and determine the short- and long-term outcome, a retrospective data bank analysis of 3,729 patients who underwent coronary angioplasty at the Mayo Clinic between July 31, 1980 and January 30, 1991 was performed. Of these patients, 217 (6%) had stable Canadian Heart Association class I or II angina at the time of the procedure and constitute the study population. Patients were followed for a median of 37 months after the procedure. The mean age of patients was 60 years; 82% were men. Prior myocardial infarction occurred in 22% of patients. Multivessel disease was present in 68% of patients, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 65 ± 11%. Angioplasty was clinically successful in 196 patients (90%), 271 of 318 lesions (85%) were successfully dilated. There were no in-hospital deaths. Coronary artery bypass was performed during hospitalization in 12 patients (5.5%), and myocardial infarction occurred in 3 (1.4%); bypass or infarction occurred in 13 patients (5.9%). During follow-up of the 196 successfully treated patients, there were 9 deaths (4.5%), 16 patients (7%) developed myocardial infarction, 30 (15%) underwent coronary artery bypass surgery, and 36 (17%) developed severe angina. The probability of having any of these adverse cardiac events after 6-year follow-up was 39%; an additional 24% of patients developed recurrent mild angina during follow-up. It is concluded that mild stable angina was an infrequent indication for coronary angioplasty at the Mayo Clinic. Although coronary angioplasty was successful in most patients with mild angina, and complications were infrequent, most patients developed recurrent mild angina or had an adverse cardiac event during 6-year follow-up.

A consecutive series of patients underwent exercise thallium imaging and coronary angiography that identified single-vessel right coronary artery disease. Redistribution in the left anterior descending territory was significantly associated with the presence of left-to-right collaterals, whereas collaterals were significantly less frequent in individuals who did not exhibit redistribution.

Drug-eluting stents (DESs) exhibit delayed endothelialization compared with bare metal stents. Adverse late vessel wall remodeling and inflammation have also been attributed to the drug/polymer coating. Recent registry data suggesting increased risk of DES thrombosis in routine clinical practice compared with previous clinical trial experience has led to concerns regarding long-term safety of these devices. We sought to determine the frequency, etiology, and clinical outcomes of stent thrombosis over 1 year in a large patient cohort treated with coronary DESs. Consecutive patients (n = 1,213) who receivedor=1 DES between April 2003 and June 2004 at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) were identified. Medical records pertaining to all deaths, major adverse cardiac events, and/or repeat coronary angiograms after DES placement were evaluated to identify cases of stent thrombosis. Mean follow-up was 12 months. Eleven cases (0.9%, 95% confidence interval 0.4 to 1.3) of stent thrombosis were identified; 4 were acute (24 hours), 5 were subacute (30 days), and 2 were late (30 days to 1 year). Normal flow was successfully restored in 7 of 8 cases where this was attempted. There were 10 myocardial infarctions and 2 deaths attributable to stent thrombosis. Eight patients were still alive at 1 year after developing stent thrombosis. In conclusion, early clinical experience with DESs in routine clinical practice indicates a low risk of stent thrombosis, within the range previously reported for bare metal stent thrombosis. Further studies with longer follow-up will be required to definitively address long-term safety concerns.

A new martensitic nitinol stent with improved flexibility and radiopacity was tested to evaluate whether these differences improve initial or long-term outcome. Patients who underwent percutaneous revascularization of a discrete native coronary lesion were randomly assigned to the new stent (PARAGON, n = 349) or to the first-generation Palmaz-Schatz (PS) stent (n = 339). The primary end point was target vessel failure at 6 months (a composite of cardiac or noncardiac death, any infarction in the distribution of the treated vessel, or clinically indicated target vessel revascularization). Secondary end points were, among others, device and procedural success and angiographic restenosis. Mean age was 62 years; diabetes was present in 21% of patients, prior bypass surgery in 6%, and recent infarction in 22% (p = NS for comparison between the 2 randomized arms). The PARAGON stent group had smaller reference vessels (2.97 vs 3.05 mm, p = 0.05), more prior restenosis (8.0% vs 4.5%, p = 0.07), and a longer average stent length (21.3 vs 19.4 mm, p

The clinical and angiographic outcomes of 10 patients who received abciximab as part of their therapy for early stent thrombosis was compared with 25 patients (using historical controls) who received conventional therapy. Although the angiographic outcome and the incidence of myocardial infarction in both groups was similar, there were no deaths or referral for emergency coronary bypass surgery in the abciximab-treated group versus 3 deaths and 10 referrals for emergency bypass surgery in the conventionally treated group.

Little is known about the frequency of adverse events in the year following stent placement in patients treated with aspirin and ticlopidine, without warfarin. We analyzed the first such 234 consecutive patients treated at our hospital between October 1994 and December 1995. Their mean age was 62 ± 12 years; 40% had had a prior myocardial infarction, 22% had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery, and 65% had multivessel disease. The indication for stent placement was dissection or abrupt closure in 24% of patients and suboptimal balloon angioplasty results in 14%; placement was elective in 62% of patients. Three hundred forty-five coronary segments were treated in the 234 patients; 305 stents (1.3 stents/patient) were placed. Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents (75%), Gianturco-Roubin stents (21%), and Johnson & Johnson biliary stents (4%) were used. Mean nominal stent size was 3.4 ± 0.4 mm. High-pressure inflations (≥14 atm, mean 17 ± 2) were performed in all patients. The mean residual stenosis was 3 ± 5% by visual estimate. Intravascular ultrasound was utilized to facilitate stent placement in 53% of patients. Mean follow-up was 1.6 ± 0.5 years. There were no deaths, Q-wave myocardial infarctions, coronary artery bypass operations, or repeat angioplasty procedures required during the remainder of the hospitalization or in 30 days after stent placement; stent thrombosis did not occur. Kaplan-Meier analysis of adverse events in the 6 months following the procedure revealed a mortality rate of 0.9%; the rate of myocardial infarction (Q-wave or non–Q-wave) was 1.3%. Bypass surgery was performed in 0.9% and angioplasty for in-stent restenosis was performed in 9.5% of patients. Any 1 of these events occurred in 11.7% of patients in the 6 months after the procedure. The corresponding event rates at 1 year were 1.3%, 2.2%, 3.5%, and 12.2%, respectively; any 1 of these events occurred in 16.5% of patients. In patients receiving intracoronary stents of varying designs followed by high-pressure postdeployment inflations in whom an excellent visual angiographic result is achieved, antithrombotic therapy with aspirin and ticlopidine is associated with a very low frequency of adverse cardiovascular events in the 12 months following the procedure regardless of the indication for stent placement.

A databank search was performed and 148 consecutive patients (mean age 59.5 ± 10.4 years) were identified who underwent emergency coronary artery bypass surgery at the Mayo Clinic between November 20, 1979, and February 12, 1992, immediately after unsuccessful coronary angioplasty. At the end of the angioplasty procedure, there was no anterograde coronary blood flow in the treated artery in 54%, ongoing chest pain in 78%, and hemodynamic compromise requiring intravenous vasopressor therapy in 25% of patients; 127 patients (86%) had at least 1 of these adverse characteristics. After leaving the catheterization laboratory, the median time to arrival in the operating room was 12 minutes. Median time from arrival in the operating room to initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass was 86 minutes, to administration or cardioplegia was 98 minutes, and to removal of the aortic cross-clamp was 135 minutes. In-hospital mortality was 11%, and 18% developed nonfatal Q-wave myocardial infarction. Thus, significant time is required to achieve surgical reperfusion after unsuccessful coronary angioplasty.

An analysis was performed of the Mayo Clinic randomized trial of direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) to determine the time required to achieve reperfusion with direct coronary angioplasty. Because patients in the Mayo trial assigned to t-PA did not undergo protocol coronary angiography, reperfusion rates from the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) I trial in which patients underwent coronary angiography 30, 60 and 90 minutes after thrombolytic therapy were used for comparison. TIMI perfusion grade 2 or 3 flow in the infarct artery was considered to represent reperfusion after thrombolysis. In the 56 patients assigned to t-PA, the mean time from randomization to initiation of the t-PA infusion was 20 minutes. Twenty minutes were therefore added to the previously reported 30-, 60- and 90-minute reperfusion rates to express these in terms of time from randomization (50, 80 and 110 minutes). In the 48 patients who had direct angioplasty, the mean time from randomization to arrival in the cardiac catheterization laboratory was 45 minutes; it took a mean of 6 additional minutes for patients to be prepared and draped and arterial access obtained, and a mean of 27 additional minutes to complete angiography and achieve reperfusion. At 50, 80 and 110 minutes after randomization, the reperfusion rates for direct coronary angioplasty were 12, 54 and 83%, similar to previously reported TIMI reperfusion rates with t-PA (24, 57 and 71%, respectively, p = NS) but significantly greater at 80 and 110 minutes than was reported for streptokinase (8, 23 and 31%, respectively, p = 0.001). If only normalization of coronary blood flow (TIMI perfusion grade 3 flow) was considered to represent reperfusion, reperfusion rates for direct coronary angioplasty would be significantly greater than for either t-PA or streptokinase. Thus, direct coronary angioplasty is rapid, and reperfusion rates compare favorably with those reported for thrombolytic therapy.

Coronary dissection is a major cause of abrupt arterial closure after coronary angioplasty but may also be associated with no discernible event. Deciding which dissections should receive further treatment is often a dilemma if the artery remains patent. This case-control study examined predictors of major ischemic complications after coronary dissections. Fifty-eight patients with coronary dissections, but a patent artery at the completion of the angioplasty procedure, subsequently had in-hospital abrupt arterial closure, acute myocardial infarction, emergency coronary bypass surgery, or died; they were matched to 58 control subjects with dissection but no event. Analysis of each angiogram was performed with the examiner unaware of patient's history. Baseline angiographic and clinical characteristics of cases and controls were similar except for an excess of current smokers among the cases (31 vs 16%; p = 0.048). Residual luminal diameter at the dissection site was 1.2 +/- 0.6 mm (cases) versus 1.6 +/- 0.6 mm (controls; p = 0.001) with relative stenosis of 59 +/- 21% vs 43 +/- 21%, respectively (p = 0.0001). Dissections among cases were longer than among controls (11 +/- 7 mm vs 7 +/- 4 mm; p = 0.001). No significant difference was found in dissection morphology using 2 classification schemes or in final Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction study flow grade. Transient occlusion during the procedure, however, occurred in 47% of cases versus 5% of controls (p = 0.0001). Transient occlusion, residual percent stenosisor = 70%, and dissectionsor = 6 mm were independently predictive of major ischemic events.

Directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) was performed in 158 patients over a 2-year period at the Mayo Clinic. Primary atheromatous lesions were treated in 92 patients (group 1) and restenosis lesions were treated in 66 (group 2). Technical success (recovery of tissue and greater than or equal to 40% luminal enlargement with a residual stenosis of less than 50%) was achieved in 152 lesions (92%); clinical success (technical success and no in-hospital death, Q-wave myocardial infarction or coronary bypass surgery) was achieved in 143 patients (91%). Adjunctive balloon angioplasty was used in 41 patients. DCA was successful less often in group 1 than in group 2 (86 vs 97%; p = 0.038). A major complication occurred in 7% of patients; in-hospital death, Q-wave myocardial infarction and emergency coronary bypass surgery occurred in 3, 1 and 4% of patients, respectively. Major complications were more frequent in group 1 than in group 2 (10 vs 1; p = 0.02). During a follow-up period of 14 +/- 8 months, no difference between the groups was found in the incidence of late death (4%), Q-wave myocardial infarction (1%), recurrent severe angina (29%), bypass surgery (15%) or repeat interventional procedure of the same vascular segment (24%). Vein graft and restenosis lesions tended to have greater success and fewer complications. Angiographic restenosis (increase of greater than or equal to 30% in stenosis severity by visual assessment) occurred in 62% of patients and 58% of lesions with successful DCA, and was similar in the 2 groups; a tendency toward higher restenosis rates was seen in patients with vein graft DCA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Restenosis remains a major problem in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. A number of constitutional factors such as male gender,1 diabetes mellitus,1,2 cigarette smoking2 and unstable angina,1,2 as well as local arterial factors including initial total occlusion,3 severe residual stenosis4 and elevated translesional final gradient1 have been associated with an increased frequency of restenosis. However, these factors are not necessarily causal, and the exact stimulus and mechanism of the cellular response resulting in restenosis remain unknown. In addition, the relative importance of constitutional and local arterial factors on the development of restenosis is unclear. Patients are often referred for angioplasty of atherosclerotic coronary narrowings having previously undergone angioplasty of a different site in the coronary circulation. However, it is not known whether patients in whom restenosis developed after the earlier angioplasty are at increased risk of developing restenosis following angioplasty of a new lesion. The answer to this question could shed some light on the relative contribution of constitutional versus local arterial factors on restenosis. Accordingly, to determine whether restenosis occurs more frequently among patients with a history of restenosis, we performed a retrospective databank analysis of patients at our institution who had undergone angioplasty and identified a select group of patients who had had a successful angioplasty and who subsequently had another angiopla'ty performed at a different coronary site.