Background: Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO) are found in 15% to 25% of patients with coronary artery disease undergoing angiography. Hospital records show that from 2014 to 2019, 191 CTO PCI procedures were performed with a mean J-CTO score of 1.4, success rate was below 70% with a 11% complications rate. Methods: Our CTO program started in 2019, with one operator, along with nurses and radiologist, we implemented on site proctorship by CTO proctors and participation in national and international educational programs dedicated to CTO PCI. Objectives primary: Success rate greater than 85%, secondary: generate a registry of the clinical and procedural characteristics of the patients. Inclusion criteria: coronary angiography not older than 6 months with at least one CTO plus exertional angina or documented ischemia or viability and heart team consensus. Results: A total of 123 patients undergoing CTO procedures were included. 85% of the patients with angina, and 13.2% with acute coronary syndrome. The success rate was of 94% with a mean J-CTO score of 2.1 and progress CTO of 1.8. We used in 77.5% of cases the antegrade wire escalation technique (AWE), in 15% of cases antegrade dissection reentry (ADR) and 7.5% retrograde wire escalation (RWE). Complications happened in 2.43% of the total of procedures. Conclusion: The implementation of a dedicated CTO program in our center was found to increase the success rate from less than 70 % to 94% with a reduction in the complication rates from 11% to 2.4%. |