Copini R T, Alves C M, Costa F de A, de Souza J A, Herrmann J L
Escola Paulista de Medicina, UNIFESP.
Arq Bras Cardiol. 1998 Jan;70(1):55-7. doi: 10.1590/s0066-782x1998000100011.
Catheter-induced coronary dissection is rare but has a significant mortality and morbidity. The ideal management of acute coronary occlusion, whatever the cause, is the prompt restoration of the vessel patency to limit the extent and duration of ischemia. In the setting of dissection during angiography the usual approach to myocardial salvage has been emergency aortocoronary bypass surgery preceded by insertion of an intra-aortic balloon. The main disadvantages of this approach is the delay in performing emergency surgery, mainly in centers without surgical back-up on site. The authors present a case of an elderly woman with left circumflex artery dissection caused by the catheter during coronary angiography. This problem was successfully managed using an intracoronary stent. This technique has potential advantages in terms of the speed of reperfusion and availability in centers performing diagnostic angiography without surgical back-up on site.
