Effect of Coronary Occlusion During Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty on Systolic and Diastolic Left Ventricular Function, Coronary Hemodynamics, and Myocardial Energetic Metabolism

Until recently, the measurement in man of left ventricular geometry and hemodynamics and the assessment of alteration in myocardial metabolism early after an abrupt occlusion of a major coronary artery were not feasible. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), however, now provides a unique opportunity to study the time course of these variables during the transient interruption of coronary flow in the balloon occlusion sequence in patients with single-vessel disease and without angiographically demonstrable collateral circulation [1, 2].