ABSTRACT
Because of the frequency with which chronic total occlusion occurs, there has been intense interest in developing and studying new approaches. These efforts have been spurred on by the finding in multiple series that successful PCI of a chronic occlusion is associated with a survival benefit as well as improvement in LV function. In an early study, Suero et al. (6) evaluated in-hospital and longer-term outcome in 2007 consecutive patients undergoing PCI for a CTO from 1980 to 1999 (Fig. 1A and 1B). These were matched with patients
treated for a subtotal stenosis using a propensity analysis. For both cohorts, the 10-year survival was similar —71.2% for CTO patients and 71.4% for non-CTO patients. In patients with a CTO, the outcome of the procedure was a very important determinant of survival; in those patients with successful CTO treatment, 10-year survival was 73.5% compared with patients with a failed procedure in whom the 10-year survival was only 65.1% (p 0.001).
