Cardiopulmonary support increases morbidity and mortality in high-risk coronary angioplasty

Percutaneous bypass is a new technique that allows cardiopulmonary support during coronary angioplasty. 1,2 Recently, the prophylactic use of cardiopulmonary bypass has been suggested as a method to prevent hemodynamic collapse during high-risk angioplasty. The National Registry of Elective Supported Angioplasty recently reported the results of 14 centers that performed supported angioplasty in 105 patients. 3 To evaluate whether the entry criteria proposed by the Registry actually warrant elective cardiopulmonary support, we compared the clinical course of 56 “high-risk” patients who underwent standard angioplasty with the clinical course of patients placed on cardiopulmonary bypass prophylactically as reported in the Registry.