Complications of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Book excerpt: C​​​omplications of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: The Survival Handbook aims to serve as a reference manual for all cardiologists, particularly those in training, who face life-threatening complications of PCI on a day-to-day basis. Drawing on the background and experience of cardiologists from both sides of the Atlantic, the book aims to be a valuable, practical, and most of all readable resource for the interventional cardiologist. The principles and practices described in the book will be of interest to all practitioners of interventional catheter procedures, including interventional radiologists, vascular surgeons, and cardiologists.Few medical procedures have evolved as dramatically or as quickly as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). From its initial conception, PCI has evolved to become a very complex procedure. Each year in the United States well over 1,000,000 percutaneous coronary intervention procedures are performed. However as the volume and complexity of the procedures being performed has increased, so has the potential for procedural error leading to life-threatening complications. Knowledge of what complications can occur during PCI and how to deal with them is vital for the practicing cardiologist, and can mean the difference between life and death.