Abstract
Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs) are frequently encountered in clinical practice, and their presence influences management decisions; patients with CTOs are more frequently allocated to bypass graft surgery or medical therapy than patients without CTOs. Recent advances in interventional guidewires, catheters, and novel techniques have led to significant improvements in success rates with percutaneous coronary intervention. In this article we review the most recent developments in the percutaneous management of CTOs, the emergence of CTO intervention as a subspecialty in its own right, and discuss future directions for further research and improvement.
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