According to the third set of guidelines produced by the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society and the British Cardiac Society, cardiologists undertaking percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are excited by the combination of patient and physician satisfaction and technological advance occurring against a background of necessary manual dexterity.
Following the last set of guidelines published in 2000, the authors have reported PCI activity in the UK increasing by 87%, such that the PCI to coronary artery bypass grafting ratio has increased to 2.5:1.
The impact of drug eluting stents has been profound, and the Department of Health is investigating the feasibility of primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction.
