Coronary angioplasty in spontaneous coronary artery dissection—Strategy and outcomes

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical, angiographic and technical characteristics of patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: This was a retrospective single center study where patients with angiographically confirmed SCAD undergoing PCI over a period of 4 years (2013–2017) were analyzed. We also sought to identify the clinical and angiographic predictors of procedural failure during PCI. RESULTS: There were a total of 42 patients with angiographically confirmed SCAD during the study period of which 16 patients (38.1%) underwent PCI. 14 out of the 16 patients (87.5%) taken up for PCI had technical success. In all patients the lesion was initially attempted to cross with a floppy wire and if unsuccessful it was escalated to a hydrophilic wire and finally to a stiff wire The SCAD lesion was crossed with a floppy wire in 71.4% of patients, with a hydrophilic wire in 14.2% and a stiff wire in 7.1% of patients. Wire escalation was required in 5 patients (31.3%) and in 60% of cases there was a technical success after wire escalation. Presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, coexisting atherosclerosis, diffuse nature of the lesion, and baseline Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) ≤ 2 flow did not predict procedural failure during PCI. CONCLUSION: PCI in SCAD is associated with a fair rate of technical success in our population. Choosing an initial floppy wire and then escalating to a hydrophilic wire followed by a stiff wire is an optimal revascularization strategy.