Key words: interventional cardiology, coronary angiography, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary artery stenting, coronary artery disease.

Summary. The objective of the article is to evaluate current status of interventional cardiology in Lithuania, to compare these data with the results of interventional cardiology of other European countries and to discuss about perspectives of interventional cardiology in Lithuania. A detailed questionnaire of interventional cardiology of European Society of Cardiology was used for analysis of Lithuanian interventional cardiology data of 2000–2002.

Lithuanian interventional cardiologists in 2000–2002 annually performed respectively 1535, 1666 and 2085 coronary angiographies, 500, 532 and 632 PTCA, 120, 133 and193 stenting procedures per 1000000 inhabitants.

According to morbidity of heart diseases in Lithuania and the rate of interventional procedures in Europe, in 2004 more than 9000 coronary angiographies should be performed, 3000 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplast procedures, and 2000 coronary stent implantations in Lithuania. Achievement of such results would be possible, if the State Sickness Fund and the Ministry of Health would pay more attention to financial problems of interventional cardiology in Lithuania.

In conclusion, it can be stated that there are good perspectives for Lithuanian cardiologists to achieve mean European level of interventional procedures in the nearest future.

Correspondence to R. Navickas, Institute of Cardiology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Sukilėlių 17, 3007 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: invcard@kmu.lt

Received 17 September 2003, accepted 6 November 2003