SUMMARY We established the incidence of coronary artery spasm provoked by 0.4 mg of methergine in 1089 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography. The test was performed after routine coronary arteriography. Subjects included patients with angina, both typical and atypical, patients who had recently had myocardial infarction and patients with either valvular disease or congestive cardiomyopathy. Patients with spontaneous spasm, left main narrowing or severe three-vessel disease were excluded. One hundred thirty-four patients experienced focal spasm. Focal spasm was uncommon in patients with atypical precordial pain (1.2%), angina of effort (4.3%), valvular disease (1.95%) or cardiomyopathy (0%). It occurred most often in patients with angina at rest and less often in patients with angina both at rest and induced by exercise. Spasm was provoked in 20% of patients with recent transmural infarction, but in only 6.2% of patients studied later after infarction. Spasm was superimposed on fixed atherosclerotic lesions in 60% of the patients. No serious complications were encountered.Although the patients who underwent provocation tests in this study are not representative of all patients with coronary artery disease, spasm occurred in 20% of patients who experienced a coronary event and in 15% of patients who complained of chest pain.

This study investigates the influence of coronary stenting on the risk of emergency bypass surgery performed within 24 hr of percutaneous tranluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) with particular concern for incidence and indication. Since 1995, coronary stenting has been increasingly performed in France during angioplasty procedures, altering significantly the role of emergency bypass surgery. The outcome of elective stenting and widespread use of coronary stenting and its influence on emergency surgery have not been evaluated so far. Through a retrospective (1995) and prospective (1996) registry, we analyzed the incidence, indication and results of emergency bypass surgery performed within 24 hr of PTCA in 68 and 57 centers, respectively, accounting for nearly half of all angioplasty procedures in France. Data were collected through questionnaires consisting of separate forms for every case report that were sent to every center. Over the two years, 26,885 and 27,497 procedures were investigated with a stenting rate of 46% and 64%, respectively. The observed need for emergency surgery was constantly low throughout this period (0.38% and 0.32%, respectively). Indications for surgery included complications directly due to stent in 37% of cases in the 2-year period. Outcome remained poor, with in-hospital mortality in 10% and 17% and myocardial infarction in 27% and 25% of cases, respectively. A comparison of the results in centers with and without surgical facilities showed no differences in outcome, despite a longer time to surgery (359 min ؎ 406 min vs. 170 min ؎ 205 min, P ‫؍‬ 0.0001) and a lower incidence of emergency surgery (0.25% vs. 0.44%, P ‫؍‬ 0.0001) in centers without on-site surgery backup. The French multicenter registry reveals an increase in the use of stents together with a dramatic decrease in the incidence of emergency bypass surgery (below 0.5 %) following PTCA. There has been a significant evolution in the indication, and stent implantation now accounts for a third of the indications for emergency bypass surgery. Cathet. Cardiovasc. Intervent. 48:441-448, 1999.

33-41, 1983. RECENT STUDIES, both experimental'-5 and clinical,69 report the feasibility of recording an extracellular sinus node electrogram with a conventional transvenous electrode catheter technique.Experimental proof for the validity of sinus node electrograms was provided by simultaneously recording the transmembrane action potential and the extracellular potential of the sinus node and by inducing sinus nodal exit block with tetrodotoxin (TTX).2 The clinical evidence is more indirect and relies on the temporal relationship of the sinus node electrogram to the P wave and its similarity to the waveform recorded experimentally.We reasoned that if the periods of atrial quiescence were sufficiently long, we could record multiple, repetitive, isolated sinus node electrograms. This recording, which is possible in the long atrial pauses observed after pacing in patients with sick sinus syn-

No abstract

This study investigates the influence of coronary stenting on the risk of emergency bypass surgery performed within 24 hr of percutaneous tranluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) with particular concern for incidence and indication. Since 1995, coronary stenting has been increasingly performed in France during angioplasty procedures, altering significantly the role of emergency bypass surgery. The outcome of elective stenting and widespread use of coronary stenting and its influence on emergency surgery have not been evaluated so far. Through a retrospective (1995) and prospective (1996) registry, we analyzed the incidence, indication and results of emergency bypass surgery performed within 24 hr of PTCA in 68 and 57 centers, respectively, accounting for nearly half of all angioplasty procedures in France. Data were collected through questionnaires consisting of separate forms for every case report that were sent to every center. Over the two years, 26,885 and 27,497 procedures were investigated with a stenting rate of 46% and 64%, respectively. The observed need for emergency surgery was constantly low throughout this period (0.38% and 0.32%, respectively). Indications for surgery included complications directly due to stent in 37% of cases in the 2‐year period. Outcome remained poor, with in‐hospital mortality in 10% and 17% and myocardial infarction in 27% and 25% of cases, respectively. A comparison of the results in centers with and without surgical facilities showed no differences in outcome, despite a longer time to surgery (359 min ± 406 min vs. 170 min ± 205 min, P = 0.0001) and a lower incidence of emergency surgery (0.25% vs. 0.44%, P = 0.0001) in centers without on‐site surgery backup. The French multicenter registry reveals an increase in the use of stents together with a dramatic decrease in the incidence of emergency bypass surgery (below 0.5 %) following PTCA. There has been a significant evolution in the indication, and stent implantation now accounts for a third of the indications for emergency bypass surgery. Cathet. Cardiovasc. Intervent. 48:441–448, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.