• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2006

Coronary artery disease is a loading cause of morbidity and mortality across the world. Percutaneous coronary intervention has become the major technique of revascularization. However, restenosis remains a major limitation of this procedure. Recently the need for repeat intervention due to restenosis, the most vexing long-term failure of percutaneous coronary intervention, has been significantly reduced owing to the introduction of two major advances, intracoronary brachytherapy and the drug-eluting stents. Intracoronary brachytherapy has been employed in recent years to prevent restenosis lesions with effective results, principally in in-stent restenosis. Restenosis is generally considered as au excessive form of normal wound healing divided up in precesses: elastic recoil, neointimal hyperplasia, and negative vascular remodeling. Restenosis has previously been regarded as a proliferative process in which neointimal thickening, mediated by a cascade of inflammatory mediators and other factors, is the key factor. Ionizing radiation has been shown to decrease the proliferative response to injury in animal models of restenosis. Subsequently, several randomized, double blind trials have demonstrated that intracoronary brachytherapy can reduce the rates of both angiographic restenosis and clinical event rates in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for in stent restenosis. Some problems, such as late thrombosis and edge restenosis, have been identified as limiting factors of this technique. Brachytherapy is a promising method of preventing and treating coronary artery restenosis.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.209-221
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• 1999

Coronary restenosis is still regarded as Achilles' Hill of interventional cardiology despite relentless efforts of many investigators. Recent experimental and clinical studies have suggested that both gamma and beta radiation can reduce restenosis after angioplasty. Currently, intracoronary brachytherapy for the prevention of restenosis has become a new evolving treatment modality in interventional cardiology. This report discusses a physical aspect of gamma and beta radiation, initial clinical results and delivery systems used in intracoronary brachytherapy. We shall take a brief overview of methods and their advantages in intra-coronary brachytherapy. Future work should provide further insight for the best way of treating restenosis.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.228-241
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• 1999

Percutaneous coronary angioplasty is well established therapeutic modality in the management of coronary artery disease. However, the high restenosis rate of 30 to 50% limits its usefulness. The principal mechanism of restenosis, intimal hyperplasia, is the proliferative response of vessel wall to injury, which consists largely of smooth muscle cells. A large body of animal investigations and a limited number of clinical studies have established the ability of ionizing radiation to reduce neointimal proliferation and restenosis rate significantly. Human studies have been reported that intravascular radiation after first restenosis inhibits a second restenosis. Encouraged by these reports, we are also conducting a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to evaluate this new therapeutic modality in patients with coronary artery stenosis. The objective of our trial is to determine the safety and efficacy of catheter-based solutional beta emitting radioisotope system in preventing restenosis after angioplasty. This review describes the vascular brachytherapy systems and isotopes that have been utilized in the initial clinical trials performed in this area of post PTCA coronary restenosis. The results of many worldwide ongoing clinical trials will determine whether this new technology will change the future practice of vascular intervention.