Third angioplasty, and after that?

The authors studied retrospectively a series of 39 patients with a documented second restenosis after coronary angioplasty between January 1987 and November 1992, 33 of whom (31 men, 2 women) underwent a third procedure. The artery dilated was the left anterior descending (n = 17 including 9 proximal stenoses), the right coronary (n = 10), the left circumflex or its branches (n = 5) and the left main stem (n = 1). The lesions were confirmed to one vessel in 25 cases (75%) and affected two vessels in 8 cases (25%). The third angioplasty procedure was performed on a single artery in all cases. The average left ventricular ejection fraction was 60% (43%-75%). The diameter of the dilated artery was over 3.25 mm in 24% of cases (8/33). The primary success rate was 100% without any complications. The average period between the first and second angioplasties was 16 +/- 10 weeks, and between the second and third angioplasties 19 +/- 12 weeks. Angioplastic controls of the 3rd angioplasty were performed in 25 cases (75%). A third restenosis (n = 7) was treated by surgical bypass (n = 1), repeat angioplasty (n = 4), endocoronary stenting (n = 1) or medically (n = 1), with a global follow-up of 22 months (2-56 months), 2 patients underwent coronary bypass grafting, 2 have residual angina (contralateral lesion which could not be dilated), 1 had an infarct in the territory of an undilated artery, and 28 (85%) were asymptomatic. The restenosis rate after the third angioplasty procedure was 28% (7/25).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)