Intracoronary autologous blood to seal a coronary perforation.
BACKGROUND: Coronary artery perforation is a rare but serious complication of percutaneous coronary interventions. CASE REPORT: We report on the treatment of a coronary perforation during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery in a patient suffering from post infarction angina complicated by cardiogenic shock. The perforation was treated successfully with intracoronary administration of the patient's own blood. CONCLUSION: This new technique may be used as adjunctive therapy to prolonged balloon inflation, coronary stenting, coronary microcoil and gelfoam embolization in the treatment of severe and hemodynamically compromising perforations.