ABSTRACT
Introduction Since the introduction of percutaneous treatment for coronary artery disease, physicians have been aware that balloon inflation and the use of new interventional devices within the coronary artery may have the potential to contribute to distal myocardial damage. Initially, the level of myocardial necrosis created by percutaneous interventions was felt to be low and not clinically significant. Detailed follow-up of large study populations,1 the analysis of myocardial enzyme release as part of new-device assessment2,3 and the use of increasingly sensitive markers of myocardial necrosis are refocusing interventionists on the clinical implications of release of cardiac markers peri-intervention.
