Chronic Total Occlusions – The Challenge Continues

Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) remain one of the greatest challenges facing interventional cardiologists and represent 10-15% of all percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures performed.1 Not only are procedures more prolonged and involve additional radiation exposure, but audit data from the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society for 2005 reported a procedural success of only 68% compared with 95% for non-CTO lesions.2 Many patients are therefore left untreated or referred for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.