Objective To evaluate the feasibility and the safety of the direct coronary stent implantation Methods Retrospectively reviewed the clinical and angiographic data of 139 patients received direct coronary stent implantation, follow up was performed in 95 of these patients Results The direct coronary stenting procedure was successful in 133 (95 7%) of 139 cases In residual 6 (4 3%) failure cases, the stent could not cross the lesion and was successful retrieved in 2 cases, balloon predilation was added In 4 cases the stent did not completely cover the lesion or dissection appeared after direct stenting, the second stent was deployed Angiographic success was achieved in all the 139 cases without major adverse coronary events during in hospital In 7 (7 4%) of 95 cases the target lesion needed repeat PTCA because of significant restenosis during 1～23 months (median 4 7 months) of clinical follow up Conclusion Direct coronary stent implantation is feasible and safe in selective patients It can save the cost of one balloon catheter

Objective To explore the characters of the aged patients with coronary disease undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in clinical presentation, procedural success, and in-hospital outcomes. Methods Data were collected as a part of a prospective registry of all percutaneous coronary interventions performed by authors between January 2001 and October 2002. Comparisons between 2 age groups (≥70 years and