The Official Journal of EuroPCR and the European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (EAPCI)
EAPCI column
"Rehabilitation" after PCI: nonsense or the only way to achieve lasting results?
EuroIntervention 2010;5:655-658.
Carlo Di Mario1*, MD, PhD, FRCP, FACC, FESC, President EAPCI; Massimo F. Piepoli2, MD, PhD, FACC, FESC, Chairman of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Section, European Association of Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation of the ESC
1. Royal Brompton Hospital & Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; 2. Heart Failure Unit, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, Piacenza, Italy
Do you show the angiographic result to your patient at the end of the procedure? Why not? It takes two minutes and the images are so easy to interpret that the patient quickly understands what the problem was and how it was “fixed”. We often use that word, “fixing”, but is it right? Certainly not. It gives the idea of a pipe replaced restoring normal functionality in an appliance. Unfortunately the human body is somewhat more complicated than a dishwasher and the ruptured plaque leading to an acute coronary syndrome is only the last step of a process of wall ...