Sustained improvement in myocardial perfusion four to six years after PTCA in patients with a satisfactory angiographic result, six months after the procedure

Of 46 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous transluminalcoronary angioplasty (PTCA) from April 1980 to August 1982 andwho had a satisfactory angiographic result six months later,one died of cancer and 41 had a detailed evaluation with exercisesingle-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, 40 patients)or repeat coronary angiography (one patient), 48–78 monthsafter the procedure. During follow-up, two patients had recurrentangina due to progression of coronary artery disease requiringa second PTCA procedure of another coronary artery; one of themlater had a limited myocardial infarction in an area suppliedby the vessel initially dilated. At follow-up, only one patienthad definite angina. All but one patient had a negative exercisetest. Myocardial perfusion during exercise in the PTCA-relatedarea, assessed by SPECT, was normal in 90% of the patients andshowed a limited defect due to reversible ischaemia in the remainingfour (10%). It is concluded that patients with a less than 50%stenosis six months after PTCA show sustained improvement intheir functional status and myocardial perfusion, four to sixyears after the procedure suggesting continued patency of thecoronary artery.