Use of Gianturco-Roubin stents for treating abrupt occlusion of unprotected left main stem during elective PTCA.

Abstract

Abrupt occlusion of the left main during elective coronary angioplasty has a high mortality rate despite emergent surgery. Coronary stents are useful for managing abrupt occlusion during balloon angioplasty, but patients treated with bail-out stenting to obviate life-threatening occlusions are usually operated after stabilization. Two cases of multiple bail-out stenting of the left main as a stand-alone treatment and their long-term follow-up are reported