ANGIOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL LONG-TERM RESULTS FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

The angiographic long-term success rate of coronary angioplasty amounts to more than 80% for all patients attempted and to more than 90% in patients having an acute success. The long-term success rate is composed of the acute success rate, which increased to more than 90% in recent years, a recurrence rate of 20-30% and a success rate of redilatation of restenosis of more than 90%. The long-term course after successful angioplasty is decisively determined from the progression of the atherosclerotic disease. About 5% of the patients develop new significant stenoses per year, which can often be treated again by angioplasty. Thus in a high percentage of patients operative revascularisation can be avoided of long duration. In a smaller group of mainly multivessel disease patients bypass surgery will be necessary later on but is postponed following angioplasty to a later date. In these primarily sucessfully dilated patients bypass surgery afterwards indicated due to the progression of the underlying disease turns out to be a technically less difficult and prognostically more favorable primary surgical intervention compared to a reintervention otherwise necessary.