Traditional antegrade approach versus combined antegrade and retrograde approach in the percutaneous treatment of coronary chronic total occlusions.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to compare the antegrade-approach and bilateral-approach strategies for chronic total occlusion (CTO). BACKGROUND: The retrograde approach has been reported for difficult CTO lesions. METHODS: This study assessed 96 consecutive patients with 119 CTO lesions. The lesions were treated with either an antegrade approach (A group) or a combined bilateral antegrade and retrograde approach (B group). The specific intervention techniques, in-hospital success rate, and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were compared. RESULTS: Lesions with well-developed septal collaterals with nontortuous microchannels were preferentially chosen for the B group versus A group (P < 0.001 and 0.008, respectively). Compared with the A group, there were more CTO lesions located in the right coronary artery in the B group (P < 0.001). In the B group, the CTO lesions had a longer length and needed stiffer wires for crossing than in the A group (P = 0.001 and 0.046, respectively). The technical success rate was 94% and 86% for the A group and the B group, respectively (P = 0.127). In-hospital complications were not different between the two groups. The B group needed a higher radiation exposure dose and a greater exposure time than the A group (P < 0.001). In the B group, use of the retrograde method significantly increased the final success rate. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that all CTO lesions should first be managed with an antegrade approach. When there is difficulty crossing the lesion, switching to a bilateral approach is an option for lesions with well-developed collaterals.