Background: Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs) represent the most technically challenging lesion subset that interventional cardiologists face. CTOs are identified in up to one third of patients referred for coronary angiography and remain seriously undertreated with percutaneous techniques. The complexity of these procedures and the suboptimal success rates over a long period of time, along with the perception that CTOs are lesions with limited scope for recanalization, account for the underutilization of CTO Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI).
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