Percutaneous interventions of nonaorto ostial coronary lesions are usually complex, often requiring a combined approach of debulking and stenting, insertion of multiple guidewires and long procedure duration. Debulking with atherectomy device preserves side-branch patency by reducing plaque shift while coronary stenting minimizes vessel recoil and restenosis. We retrospectively evaluated the acute and long-term results of rotational atherectomy (group R, n = 94), coronary stenting (group S, n = 39), and combination of rotational atherectomy and stenting (group R-S, n = 59) in a total of 192 patients with nonaorto ostial lesions. The number of patients with diabetes mellitus and rest angina was significantly higher in groups S and R-S. Clinical success rates were high and procedural complication rates were low and comparable in all three groups. Despite the similar reference vessel size and preprocedure minimal lumen diameter (MLD), postprocedure MLD showed a trend toward larger lumen in groups S (3.15 +/- 0.18 mm) and R-S (3.21 +/- 0.16 mm). Group S had significantly higher incidence of side-branch narrowing (30.7%), requiring intervention (15.4%). At long-term follow-up (mean of 9 +/- 4 months), target lesion revascularization rate was significantly lower in groups R-S (11.9%) and S (15.4%) compared to group R (28.9%; P = 0.02). Our nonrandomized data suggest that stenting with or without rotational atherectomy provides the best long-term approach for the interventional treatment of nonaorto ostial coronary lesions. The clinical benefit and cost effectiveness of performing rotational atherectomy before stent implantation to reduce the incidence of side-branch closure requires further study.
Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.