[Guide-wire rupture as a complication of coronary angioplasty. Apropos 2 cases and a review of the literature].

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is a useful therapeutic tool in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. Nowadays this procedure presents acute complications of different severity in 10% of the cases. The rupture of the guide wire is a very uncommon complication that may produce important consequences as occlusion of the artery of systemic embolism. The management of this event may be interventional or conservative, depending on the clinical situation of the patient and the position of the guide wire inside the vessel. We report the 2 cases of rupture of the guide wire observed in our center in 1,000 consecutive procedures; in one case it was decided to leave the fragment in the distal portion of the artery, and in the other case the fragment was extracted surgically. We review the literature about this rare complication.