CORONARY-ARTERY PERFORATION DURING EXCIMER LASER CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

Objectives. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of vessel perforation during excimer laser angioplasty. Background. Vessel perforation is a serious complication of angioplasty. Methods. A total of 764 patients had 858 stenoses treated with excimer laser angioplasty. Laser catheters had a diameter of 1.4, 1.7 or 2 mm. Laser energy was delivered in pulses of 135 ns, at a frequency of 25 s-1 and at a fluence of 30 to 60 mJ/mm2. Follow-up angiography was requested for all patients who did not require emergency bypass surgery. Results. In the 764 consecutive patients treated with excimer laser coronary angioplasty, vessel perforation occurred in 23 patients (3%). Nine patients had a major complication resulting directly from vessel perforation (cardiac tamponade, myocardial infarction or need for bypass surgery) and 14 had no clinical complications after successful sealing of the puncture site. No patient with a perforation died. Multivariate analysis showed that bifurcation lesions (odds ratio [OR] = 3.5; p = 0.049), diabetes mellitus (OR = 3.15; p = 0.029) and female gender (OR = 2.86; p = 0.013) were associated with an increased risk of vessel perforation. Lesions >10 mm in length (OR = 0.45; p = 0.206), calcified stenoses (OR = 0.26; p = 0.088) and saphenous vein graft lesions (OR = 0.50; p = 0.295) were not at increased risk. Vessel perforation was seen in 10 (8.3%) of 120 lesions in which the laser catheter was equivalent in diameter to the target vessel (less-than-or-equal-to 50.5 mm smaller in size) but in only 8 (1.5%) of 525 lesions in which the laser catheter was >1 mm smaller than the target vessel (p = 0.001). Conclusions. Most lesions thought to be suitable for excimer laser treatment are not at increased risk of perforation. The complication may be avoided by improved patient and laser catheter size selection.