Chronic total improvement in ventricular function and survival

Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs) represent a frequent lesions’ subset observedin everyday catheterization laboratory practice. Previously considered to be an indication for surgicalmyocardial revascularization, the interest of interventional community in CTOs has exponentially grownduring the last decade, particularly thanks to an important development in dedicated equipment andtechniques, and has led to the achievement of high rates of success and low rates of complications by expertoperators. In absence of available data from randomized trials, several observational studies have shownthe benefits of CTO percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in insuring better cardiovascular outcome,particularly by improving ventricular function and reducing cardiac mortality.