Improved ischemic tolerance during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty by intracoronary injection of nitroglycerin.

Intracoronary injection of nitroglycerin increases ischemic tolerance in 70% of patients with unstable angina during PTCA, thus delaying development of angina pectoris and/or ventricular arrhythmias. Intracoronary injection of nitroglycerin thus seems to be a suitable way of prolonging dilation time in PTCA, an important factor of success rate. Combination with calcium-antagonists may be more effective than injection of nitroglycerin alone.