Temporary trans-coronary pacing by coated guidewires: a safe and reliable method during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Relevant bradycardias during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are a rare event, but they require immediate therapy by temporary pacing. However, transvenous pacing is associated with frequent and severe complications. Therefore, we wanted to evaluate the safety and reliability of trans-coronary pacing by means of a PCI guidewire.

Surgical trauma affects the proinflammatory status after cardiac surgery to a higher degree than cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objectives: Cytokines contribute to the development of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome or multiple-organ failure frequently observed after cardiopulmonary bypass-supported cardiac surgery. To quantify the contribution of bypass-induced versus trauma-induced inflammatory response after coronary artery bypass grafting, we examined plasma cytokine levels in 120 patients with coronary artery disease who were treated with or without cardiopulmonary bypass-assisted procedures.

Methods: Patients were treated in accordance with one of the following protocols: (1) elective percutaneous coronary intervention without cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 69), (2) cardiopulmonary bypass-supported percutaneous coronary intervention (cardiopulmonary bypass-percutaneous coronary intervention; n = 10), and (3) cardiopulmonary bypass-supported coronary artery bypass grafting (cardiopulmonary bypass-coronary artery bypass grafting; n = 41).