Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in patients with two or more previous coronary artery bypass grafting operations.

Between 1979 and 1986, 65 of 76 patients (86%) (82% men, with a mean age of 58 +/- 8 years) with greater than or equal to 2 previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operations and symptomatic myocardial ischemia underwent successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Sixty-two patients had 2 prior CABG operations, 10 had 3 and 4 had 4. Clinical characteristics included prior myocardial infarctions in 49 (65%), severe angina (class III or IV) in 47 (62%) and left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 35% in 13 (17%). There were 139 lesions dilated: 1 lesion in 39 (51%), 2 in 22 (29%) and greater than or equal to 3 in 15 (20%) patients. Arterial lesions were successfully dilated in 71 of 81 cases (88%), vein grafts in 44 of 53 (83%) and mammary artery grafts in 3 of 5 (60%). In 12 patients, PTCA was used to dilate significant lesions less than 15 days after CABG in vessels which were unable to be bypassed. Significant complications were encountered in 4 patients (5%). These included 3 of 53 vein graft dilatations with embolization (6%), with 1 resulting in infarction and death, and 1 patient dying after emergency CABG. At hospital discharge, 65 patients were clinically improved. An apparent symptom-related lesion recurrence occurred in 23 of 65 patients (35%), with 5 patients dying of cardiac causes, 4 having CABG without previous angiography and 12 of 14 patients undergoing repeat successful PTCA (mean time and standard deviation 9 +/- 6 months).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)