Antegrade versus Retrograde Approach for Recanalization of Ostial or Stumpless Coronary Chronic Total Occlusion

PURPOSE: This research aimed to evaluate the procedural and in-hospital clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ostial or stumpless chronic total occlusion (CTO) utilizing both the antegrade-only and retrograde approaches. METHODS: A comprehensive retrospective examination was conducted on the procedural and in-hospital clinical outcomes of 89 consecutive patients subjected to ostial or stumpless CTO PCI at our institution between April 2015 and October 2022. RESULTS: The antegrade-only technique demonstrated a superior technical success rate (92.0% vs 71.9%, p = 0.041) and procedural success rate (92.0% vs 68.8%, p = 0.022) in comparison to the retrograde approach (RA). The RA group presented a notably elevated Japanese-CTO (J-CTO) score relative to the antegrade-only approach group (2.45±0.73 vs 1.64±0.70, p < 0.001). The antegrade-only approach group manifested an increased frequency of microchannels at the proximal stump relative to the RA group (56.0% vs 10.9%, p < 0.001). In-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and in-hospital myocardial infarction (MI) were observed more prevalently in the RA group (18.8% vs 0, p = 0.003; 15.6% vs 0, p = 0.008; respectively). A J-CTO score below 2 and the manifestation of microchannels at the proximal stump were identified as predictors for successful antegrade-only approach PCI for ostial or stumpless CTO (OR: 2.79 [95% CI: 1.92–5.03, P =0.003]; OR: 2.89 [95% CI: 1.32–6.03, P =0.001]; respectively). CONCLUSION: Relative to RA PCI for ostial or stumpless CTO, the antegrade-only approach is utilized for less complex CTO lesions and is associated with a diminished probability of in-hospital MACE.