The Mechanism of Balloon Impact in Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty in Eccentric Coronary Artery Narrowings

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In the early days of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and in particular before the stent era, the selection of the appropriate balloon diameter was crucial for risk and success of the intervention. With larger balloon diameters the risk of vessel wall dissection was increased but the rate of restenosis was much higher when smaller balloons were used. In retrospect, it is surprising how few histopathological studies have been performed during this time period to study the mechanism of PTCA. A main reason for this may have been that PTCA has been working well in most cases and was very effective for the relief of angina symptoms. This lack of basic research led even to the erroneous assumption by the PTCA pioneer Andreas Gruentzig, that the angioplasty procedure be characterized “by a concentric expansion of the vessel over a suitable portion of its length.” This view has been challenged by Professor Jesse E. Edwards, a distinguished cardiovascular pathologist from Minneapolis, MN/USA, with a world-wide reputation. The disagreement was based on the finding that 70% of coronary stenoses have been found to be eccentric and only 30% to be concentric narrowings. Jesse E. Edwards therefore initiated a histopathological study about the mechanism of balloon angioplasty in coronary arteries of freshly autopsied hearts. The study was performed in 1982 by one of the authors (HS), then a young cardiology fellow in the laboratories of Professor Kurt A. Amplatz. Kurt A. Amplatz was in an early stage of his career to later become a world famous pioneer for the development of a variety of catheters, wires, instruments, and devices for the closure of the patent foramen ovale, atrial and ventricular septal defects, and the left atrial appendage. The study documents were unavailable for almost 40 years but have recently been made accessible again. Conclusion: This manuscript discusses the main findings of the histopathological study on the mechanism of coronary balloon dilatation and is dedicated to 2 giants of cardiovascular research, Jesse E. Edwards and Kurt A. Amplatz.

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