CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, vol.24, no.4, pp.298-302, 2013 (SCI-Expanded)
Objectives
Sufficient coronary collateral circulation
(CCC) protects myocardial tissue against ischemia in
patients with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO).
In this study, we aimed to investigate whether there
is an association between serum
c-glutamyl transferase
(GGT) levels and development of CCC in patients
with coronary CTO.
Materials and methods
A total of 203 patients with
CTO at coronary angiography were included in this study.
On the day of admission to the hospital, blood samples
were taken and GGT levels were analyzed for all patients.
Development of collateral circulation was graded according
to the Rentrop classification after coronary angiography.
Then, patients were divided into two groups on the basis
of CCC grades: group 1 included 99 patients (49%) with
poorly developed CCC, and group 2 included 104 patients
(51%) with well-developed CCC.
Results
Patients with poorly developed CCC had
significantly higher serum GGT levels compared with
those with well-developed CCC, (66.5±16 vs. 51.8±10 U/l,
P
< 0.0001). Correlation analysis showed an inverse
correlation between GGT levels and the Rentrope score
(
r = – 0.579, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed
that GGT level was an independent predictor of poorly
developed CCC (odds ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval
0.90–0.94;
P < 0.001).
Conclusion
Increased serum GGT levels independently
predict poorly developed CCC in patients with coronary
CTO. Our results show that GGT is a simple and readily
available marker for sufficiency of CCC in patients with
CTO.