Reappraisal Value of a Modified Rotational Atherectomy Technique in Contemporary Coronary Angioplasty Era

Objectives. To introduce a modified rotational atherectomy (RA) procedure and investigate the early and midterm outcomes of the RA-facilitating diversified percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a large group of aged patients with higher cardiovascular risk. Background. Previous studies about the outcomes of RA were limited with small sample size and low-risk population. Methods. Between January 2013 and November 2015, 1169 consecutive patients treated with modified RA-facilitated PCI were retrospectively enrolled, including de novo calcified lesions and in-stent restenosis. Patients were regularly followed up for at least 1 year. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were analyzed for all participants by different strategies. Cox regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for the events. Results. The median age of patients was 75 years, with 11.7% of patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Most lesions (99.9%) were complex (American Heart Association type B2/C), and 68.3% were treated with RA + drug-eluting-stent (DES). Successful angiography was achieved in 97.8% cases, with 1.7% (20/1169) experiencing coronary perforation (including guidewire perforation). The incidence of MACE was 20.5% and 26.8% at 1-year and 2-year follow-up and were mainly driven by target lesion revascularization (TLR) (10.3% and 12.5%, respectively). The strategy of RA + DES had the lowest 2-year MACE, compared with the RA + drug-coated balloon and RA + plain old balloon angioplasty (14.5%, 30.5%, and 26.0%, respectively). Conclusions. The modified RA technique is a safe and effective tool in the contemporary PCI era, even in high-risk patients. The TLR rate was relatively high but acceptable in such complex lesions