Abstract
An 83-year-old man was admitted with refractory unstable angina and severe anemia. Colonofiberscopy revealed hemorrhagic colon cancer in the transverse colon. Coronary angiography showed total occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA), diffuse, calcified 90% stenosis of the middle portion of the left anterior descending artery (LAD); and fair collaterals from the LAD to the RCA. Coronary revascularization was considered prior to colectomy, but because of the patient's advanced age and hemorrhagic cancer, conventional coronary aorta bypass grafting (CABG) using extracorporeal circulation, as well as coronary stenting requiring antiplatelet therapy, were regarded as inadvisable. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for the LAD carried the risk of suboptimal coronary stenting. Thus, the patient was first treated with PTCA for the occluded RCA, followed 7 days later by a left internal thoracic artery graft to the LAD on the beating heart without extracorporeal circulation. The patient was stable thereafter. This approach to coronary revascularization may be suitable for patients for whom anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy are contraindicated, or when complete revascularization would be difficult with CABG or PTCA alone. (Jpn Circ J 1999; 63: 636 - 639)
