Percutaneous coronary intervention for unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis

Abstract

Because of the long-term benefit of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in medical therapy, CABG has been the standard treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenosis. However, with the advancement of techniques and equipment, the percutaneous interventional approach for implantation of coronary stents has been shown to be feasible for patients with unprotected LMCA stenosis. The recent introduction of drug-eluting stents (DESs), together with advances in periprocedural and postprocedural adjunctive pharmacotherapies, has improved outcomes of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) for these complex coronary lesions. This review evaluates the current outcomes of PCI with DES in research conducted in several countries.