Left Main Coronary Interventions: A Practical Guide.

Coronary artery bypass surgery has been the accepted treatment for left main coronary artery disease for over 50 years. Balloon angioplasty was later used then abandoned because of deaths likely due to restenosis or thrombotic occlusion. However, rapid innovations in drug-eluting stent designs leading to more biocompatible thin strut platforms with optimal drug elution profiles and further advances in modern pharmacotherapy involving potent P2Y inhibitors combined with utilization of intracoronary imaging and physiologic assessment for procedural planning and optimization have transformed percutaneous interventions into successful alternatives to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in selected LM anatomic territories. Herein, we provide an evidence-based practical guide on how to approach and perform LM percutaneous interventions (PCI).