Distal left main trifurcation disease in a patient with porcelain aorta

Role of IVUS in the rectification of angiographically judged ramus intermedius and its clinical significance

Background

Due to the technical limitations of coronary artery angiography (CAG), ramus intermedius (RI) is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a high-origin obtuse marginal branch or a high-origin diagonal branch. This study sought to investigate the role of intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) in the rectification of angiographically judged RI.

Methods

This study retrospectively analyzed 165 patients who were reported to have an RI based on CAG and underwent IVUS implementation from 02/01/2009 to 31/12/2019 in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. Taking IVUS as the gold standard, we calculated the accuracy of RI identification by CAG and evaluated the impact of RI on revascularization strategy.

Results

Among the 165 patients, 89 patients (54%) were demonstrated to have an RI on IVUS (IVUS-RI), 32 patients (19%) were identified to have a high-origin diagonal branch on IVUS (IVUS-h-D), and 44 patients (27%) had an actual high-origin obtuse marginal artery on IVUS (IVUS-h-OM). Among 84 patients who underwent one-stent crossover stenting because of left main furcation lesions (48 patients in the IVUS-RI group, 12 patients in the IVUS-h-D group, and 24 in the IVUS-h-OM group), 14.6% of patients in the IVUS-RI group, 33.3% in the IVUS-h-D group and 0% in the IVUS-h-OM group had CAG-RI compromise (P = 0.02), which was defined as severe stenosis of the RI ostium (> 75%) or significant RI flow impairment (TIMI < 3).

Conclusions

Only 54% of CAG-RIs were confirmed by IVUS, which indicates the necessity of preintervention IVUS to distinguish real RIs from other branches in LM furcation lesions.

A Novel Double Side Branch Protection Technique for a Left Main Trifurcation Lesion: Simultaneous Jailed Balloon and Jailed Corsair Technique

Percutaneous coronary intervention for left main trifurcation disease is challenging. Although side branch protection techniques such as the jailed balloon technique and jailed Corsair technique are the established methods for treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions, little is known regarding the application and feasibility of these techniques for left main trifurcation disease. We herein describe a 72-year-old man with angina pectoris who was successfully treated with percutaneous coronary stent implantation for a left main trifurcation lesion. In this case, we performed a novel double side branch protection technique, the simultaneous jailed balloon and jailed Corsair technique, with a single 8 Fr guiding catheter. This is the first case report to highlight the feasibility and efficacy of combined use of the jailed balloon and jailed Corsair techniques during percutaneous coronary intervention for left main trifurcation disease.