[Contribution of new technologies to the management of acute complications of coronary angioplasty].

This retrospective study of 4,000 coronary angioplasty procedures performed between 1/1/87 and 31/1/92 was undertaken to assess the benefits of new therapeutic options (perfusion balloon catheter, temporary and permanent stenting, laser balloon angioplasty, cardiopulmonary bypass) in the management of major complications of angioplasty and to evaluate the results of emergency coronary bypass surgery. Angioplasty was performed before (1,000 angioplasties: Group 1) and after (3,000 angioplasties: Group 2) the introduction of these new techniques at the Centre cardiologique du Nord. Despite the increasing complexity of the clinical and angiographic features of the patients, the global results show a significant decrease in the rates of emergency bypass surgery (2.1% in Group 1 versus 0.7% in Group 2; p < 0.0015) and of periprocedural acute myocardial infarctions (1.8% in Group 1 versus 0.7% in Group 2; p < 0.015). The use of these new techniques in cases of acute complications of coronary angioplasty decreases the signs of ischaemia before surgery (61.9% in Group 1 versus 68.1% in Group 2; p < 0.05). Coronary bypass surgery was performed under haemodynamically stable conditions in all patients requiring the procedure in Group 2, enabling the surgeon to perform more complete revascularisation with implantation of the mammary artery in 50% of cases (9.5% of cases in Group 1; p < 0.001). The interval to emergency bypass surgery depends mainly on the rapidity of the operative decision in cases of failure of these new techniques.