Long-term assessment of clinical parameters in patients with coronary heart disease after balloon angioplasty and stenting balloon angioplasty

The aim of this study was to assess clinical parameters in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) in the late period after balloon coronary angioplasty (BCA) and intracoronary stenting (ICS). The study included 104 patients who underwent repeated coronary angiography (CA) 2-10 months after successful coronary angioplasty. Clinical parameters were analyzed in 2 groups comparable at the moment of its performance in terms of major clinical characteristics. Group 1 comprised 51 patients following BCA and group 2 included 53 patients after ICS. Six months after the first procedure, repeated coronary angioplasty was performed in 19 (37.2%) and 6 (9.4%) patients after BCA and ICS, respectively (p < 0.05). Recurrent angina pectoris was observed in 42 patients from group 1 and in 25 ones from group 2, which was 82.3 and 47.2%, respectively (p < 0.05). Control CA revealed restenosis of the dilated artery in 22 (43.1%) of the 51 patients of group 1 and in 12 (22.6%) of the 53 patients of group 2. There were no differences between the groups in late postoperative bicycle ergometric and 24-hour ECG monitoring findings. The findings have led to the conclusion that implantation of a stent into the coronary artery greatly prolongs the antiischemic effect of coronary angioplasty and reduces a need for repeated endovascular intervention, which appears as lower incidence rates of restenosis and recurrent angina as compared to routine balloon angioplasty.