Traditional antegrade approach versus combined antegrade and retrograde approach in the percutaneous treatment of coronary chronic total occlusions.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this study was to compare the antegrade-approach and bilateral-approach strategies for chronic total occlusion (CTO).

BACKGROUND

The retrograde approach has been reported for difficult CTO lesions.

METHODS

This study assessed 96 consecutive patients with 119 CTO lesions. The lesions were treated with either an antegrade approach (A group) or a combined bilateral antegrade and retrograde approach (B group). The specific intervention techniques, in-hospital success rate, and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were compared.

RESULTS

Lesions with well-developed septal collaterals with nontortuous microchannels were preferentially chosen for the B group versus A group (P < 0.001 and 0.008, respectively). Compared with the A group, there were more CTO lesions located in the right coronary artery in the B group (P < 0.001). In the B group, the CTO lesions had a longer length and needed stiffer wires for crossing than in the A group (P = 0.001 and 0.046, respectively). The technical success rate was 94% and 86% for the A group and the B group, respectively (P = 0.127). In-hospital complications were not different between the two groups. The B group needed a higher radiation exposure dose and a greater exposure time than the A group (P < 0.001). In the B group, use of the retrograde method significantly increased the final success rate.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that all CTO lesions should first be managed with an antegrade approach. When there is difficulty crossing the lesion, switching to a bilateral approach is an option for lesions with well-developed collaterals.