Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of coronary artery embolism.

A 35-yr-old woman with known valvular heart disease presented with acute myocardial infarction. Angiography demonstrated a totally occluded distal left anterior descending coronary artery. Though initially successful, angioplasty ultimately failed to maintain arterial patency, leaving a more distal total occlusion after several balloon inflations. In spite of this, PTCA possibly provided a more localized infarction via a peripheral mobilization of the embolus.