Common themes in patients requiring urgent cardiothoracic surgery after percutaneous coronary interventions: Case series and review of the literature.
Urgent cardiothoracic surgical intervention for the management of complications of percutaneous coronary intervention is uncommon in the stent era. Nonetheless, given increasing procedural complexity, in part reflecting an aging population, an ongoing hazard for urgent surgery remains. We sought to review the incidence and outcome of urgent cardiothoracic surgery in patients undergoing PCI in a contemporary cohort at a tertiary referral centre. The incidence of cardiothoracic intervention for PCI related complications was low at 0.1% over a ten-year period, with iatrogenic coronary artery and aortic root dissection unable to successfully managed percutaneously recurrent precipitants for surgical involvement. Procedural features associated with the need for urgent surgery are noted and methods to overcome such complications discussed.