Intervencionismo en oclusiones crónicas: evaluación de la efectividad cruce de distintas guías y balones según complejidad

background.: pci in chronic coronary occlusions requi-res complex techniques and is associated to less predictable results. it is important to evalúate the effectiveness of different guides and balloons in pci for total coronary occlusion (tco). aim: to evalúate the effectiveness of different guides and balloons in the treatment of tco. methods: a retrospective review of the effectiveness of different guides and balloons in the treatment of tco perfor-med from 2007 to 2009 was carried out effectiveness was defined as the ability to traverse the occlusion with the guide and the balloon. the analysis was performed according to groups defined by the complexity of the tco as assessed by alocally developed score. occlusions were classified as simple, complex or highly complex. results: 90 procedures were analyzed 148 guides were uti-lized (mean of 1.6 per procedure) and 92 balloons were used in 76 cases were the guide successfully crossed the occlusion. the pt2 guide was effective for simple and complex lesions, whereas de miracle 6 guide was effective in the treatment of highly complex lesions. regarding balloons, the maverick, mercury and voyageur 1.5 mm were satisfactory in simple and complex lesions, while the maverick 1.5mm was more effective in highly complex lesions conclusión: tco was successfully treated by pci in 67% of cases. pt2 guides and all types of balloons were effective for treatment of simple and complex lesions. in contrast, the miracle 6 guide and the maverick 1.5 balloon were more effective in highly complex lesions. these findings may be useful to help de proper selection of angioplasty materials when trea-tingtoc.