Current Insights into Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in Patients with Left Main Coronary Artery Disease
Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease is associated with an extremely poor prognosis: In patients who receive non-surgical treatment, one-year and three-year mortality rates are 21% and 50%, respectively. M. S. Gotsman et al. figuratively called the left main coronary artery the artery of sudden death. Until recently, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was the method of choice for patients with this type of coronary artery disease. The introduction of drug-eluting stents allowed us to consider angioplasty and stenting of LMCA as an alternative to CABG. This article summarizes information about the main studies of endovascular therapies for LMCA disease. It also describes some key issues that affect the choice of revascularization techniques in patients with LMCA disease.