Introduction
This article provides data of the workload of the interventional cardiology centers from Romania during 2023 and 2024, and it highlights the trends in coronary or peripheral interventions between 2014 and 20241–10. All interventional cardiology centers in Romania were requested to fill out a standardized form, documenting the total number of various procedures conducted throughout 2023 and 2024. This continues the data collection effort from previous years, ensuring a consistent tracking of trends. Data was collected at the initiative of the Interventional Cardiology Working Group of Romanian Society of Cardiology.
Tables 1 and 2 summarize the data from 2023 and 2024, respectively, provided by 45 public and private interventional cardiology centers in Romania. In 2024, Romania had 53 interventional cardiologists in training, 180 full interventional cardiologists, and 71 functional angiographs. The exact number of full interventional cardiologists remains challenging to determine due to some practitioners working in both public and private institutions.
Table 1
Reported data from all Interventional Cardiology Centers from Romania in 2023.
| CITY | Bucharest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | CC. Iliescu | SUUB | SUB | Agrippa Ionescu | Militar | Bagdasar | Elias | Sf. Ioan | Ponderas |
| Nr. Of Cath labs | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Nr. in training operators | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||||
| Coronarography | 2638 | 2333 | 1587 | 880 | 2540 | 1124 | 1430 | 319 | 276 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1102 | 1141 | 722 | 158 | 851 | 568 | 693 | 79 | 57 |
| PCI without stents | 73 | 57 | 25 | 22 | 117 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 2 |
| PCI with stents | 1029 | 1084 | 697 | 136 | 734 | 563 | 681 | 74 | 55 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 451 | 399 | 545 | 15 | 268 | 336 | 402 | 7 | 15 |
| PCI left main | ur | 46 | 109 | 7 | 48 | 56 | 54 | ur | 2 |
| CTO | ur | 20 | 37 | 11 | 11 | 28 | 23 | ur | 2 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.55 | 1.38 | 1.80 | 1.15 | 1.34 | 1.41 | 1.37 | 1.24 | 1.50 |
| Total nr. of stents | 1603 | 1492 | 1255 | 183 | 1140 | 794 | 937 | 98 | 85 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 35 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Rotabalation | 9 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Shockwave | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FFR/IFR | 15 | 3 | 34 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| IVUS | 12 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| OCT | 14 | 5 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 261 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 295 | 2 | 12 | 43 | 40 |
| Renal PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 98 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 246 | 3 | 8 | 39 | ur |
| Peripheral angiography | 584 | 74 | 0 | 229 | 1110 | 115 | 63 | 192 | 113 |
| Other interventions | |||||||||
| TAVI | 197 | 31 | 57 | 22 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 23 | ur | 24 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 22 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| CITY | Bucharest | Cluj Napoca | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Sanador | Monza-Ares Bucureşti | Colentina | Medlife | Institutul Inimii Cluj | SCJU Cluj | Monza-Ares Cluj | Sp. Recuperare Cluj |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ur | 2 |
| Nr. of training operators | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||||||
| Coronarography | 1441 | 977 | 340 | 519 | 1540 | 1403 | 469 | 447 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 197 | 401 | 92 | 127 | 2040 | 793 | 189 | 180 |
| PCI without stents | 6 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 40 | 54 | 1 | 8 |
| PCI with stents | 191 | 397 | 91 | 119 | 2000 | 739 | 159 | 172 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 621 | 209 | 1 | 4 |
| PCI left main | 3 | 64 | ur | 4 | 102 | 51 | 13 | 0 |
| CTO | 5 | 43 | ur | 10 | 84 | 36 | 15 | 0 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.34 | 1.89 | 1.64 | 1.30 | 1.15 | 1.85 | 1.64 | ur |
| Total nr. of stents | 256 | 749 | 150 | 155 | 2363 | 1465 | 311 | ur |
| Cutting, Scoring | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 67 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Rotabalation | 4 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Shockwave | 1 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 9 | 14 | 0 |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| OCT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 130 | 67 | 7 | 40 | 223 | 432 | 35 | 88 |
| Renal PTA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 1 |
| Carotid PTA | 3 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 59 | 2 | 26 | 0 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 51 | 114 | 8 | 62 | 204 | 212 | 61 | ur |
| Peripheral angiography | 563 | 189 | 38 | 78 | 187 | 386 | 65 | 155 |
| Other interventions | ||||||||
| TAVI | 110 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 259 | 0 | ur | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ur | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 12 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| CITY | Iaşi | Târgu Mureş | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | IBCV Iaşi | Arcadia Iasi | Sp. Sf. Spiridon | IBCV Tg Mureş | CardioMed Tg. Mures | SCJU Tg. Mureş | Topmed |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 9 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||
| Coronarography | 3783 | 842 | 1359 | 1436 | 1040 | 979 | 1150 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 2077 | 93 | 1078 | 1108 | 837 | 763 | 168 |
| PCI without stents | 215 | 4 | 38 | 130 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| PCI with stents | 1862 | 89 | 962 | 978 | 837 | 763 | 164 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 863 | 0 | 233 | 460 | 611 | 545 | 0 |
| PCI left main | ur | ur | 94 | 149 | 18 | 45 | 10 |
| CTO | ur | ur | 32 | 32 | 14 | 21 | 5 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.47 | 1.07 | 1.55 | 1.53 | 1.07 | 1.04 | 1.5 |
| Total nr. of stents | 3048 | 100 | 1554 | 1499 | 901 | 793 | 251 |
| Cutting, Scoring | ur | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Rotabalation | ur | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Shockwave | ur | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FFR/IFR | 21 | 0 | 6 | 42 | 35 | 14 | 0 |
| IVUS | 16 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 0 |
| OCT | ur | 0 | 0 | 5 | 34 | 26 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 67 | 7 | 9 | 98 | 36 | 23 | 43 |
| Renal PTA | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 31 | 6 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 106 | 0 | 11 | 41 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| Peripheral angiography | 708 | 120 | 67 | 148 | 79 | 60 | 50 |
| Other interventions | |||||||
| TAVI | 53 | 0 | 0 | 175 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 8 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CITY | Timişoara | Braşov | Oradea | Suceava | Baia Mare | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | IBCV Timişoara | Clinicco Brasov | Sp. Jud. Brasov | Sf. Constantin Brasov | Sp. Jud. Oradea | Sp. Jud. Suceava | Sp. Jud. Baia Mare |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ur | 3 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ur | 3 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ur | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||
| Coronarography | 3255 | 1306 | 1560 | 1096 | 1626 | ur | 391 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1924 | 367 | 1403 | 369 | 822 | ur | 544 |
| PCI without stents | 92 | 15 | 138 | 47 | 39 | ur | 27 |
| PCI with stents | 1832 | 352 | 1265 | 355 | 783 | ur | 517 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 1193 | 11 | 493 | 3 | 439 | ur | 240 |
| PCI left main | 205 | 22 | 30 | 30 | 57 | ur | 19 |
| CTO | 67 | 11 | 4 | ur | 77 | ur | 5 |
| Stents per patient2 | 2.00 | 1.56 | 1.16 | 1.52 | 1.91 | ur | 1.55 |
| Total nr. of stents | 3862 | 560 | 1477 | 541 | 1496 | ur | 806 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 15 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 12 | ur | 18 |
| Rotabalation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 | ur | 0 |
| Shockwave | 0 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 3 | ur | 2 |
| FFR/IFR | 10 | 19 | 25 | 0 | 9 | ur | 4 |
| IVUS | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 37 | ur | 0 |
| OCT | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ur | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 49 | 15 | 0 | 29 | 54 | ur | 42 |
| Renal PTA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ur | 1 |
| Carotid PTA | 61 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 22 | ur | 0 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 91 | 18 | 0 | 30 | 4 | ur | 25 |
| Peripheral angiography | 463 | 44 | 0 | 41 | 157 | ur | 122 |
| Other interventions | |||||||
| TAVI | 32 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 20 | ur | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 13 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | ur | 11 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ur | 0 |
| CITY | Sibiu | Constanta | Ploiesti | Pitesti | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Polisano Sibiu | Sp. Jud. Sibiu | Monza - Ares Constanta | HEKA | Sp. Jud. Ploiesti | Sp. Jud. Pitesti |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||||
| Coronarography | 597 | 1150 | 586 | 131 | 636 | 980 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 171 | 441 | 675 | 76 | 425 | 566 |
| PCI without stents | 0 | 35 | 29 | 2 | 45 | 50 |
| PCI with stents | 171 | 373 | 646 | 74 | 380 | 516 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 0 | 12 | 253 | 0 | 185 | 264 |
| PCI left main | 10 | 21 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 27 |
| CTO | 18 | 55 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 18 |
| Stents per patient2 | 2 | 1.04 | 1.39 | 1.78 | 1.34 | 1.39 |
| Total nr. of stents | 344 | 459 | 939 | 136 | 512 | 799 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 31 |
| Rotabalation | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Shockwave | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| OCT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 12 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 0 | 52 |
| Renal PTA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 15 | 1 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 45 |
| Peripheral angiography | 38 | 1 | 25 | 18 | 59 | 140 |
| Other interventions | ||||||
| TAVI | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CITY | Craiova | Tulcea | Galati | Buzau |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Sp. Jud. Craiova | Monza - Ares Tulcea | Sp. Jud. Galati | Sp. Jud. Buzau |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 1 | 1 | 1 | ur |
| Nr. Independent operators | 4 | 1 | 1 | ur |
| Nr. of in-training operators | 1 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||
| Coronarography | 2387 | 270 | 255 | ur |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1032 | 157 | 227 | ur |
| PCI without stents | 96 | 7 | 31 | ur |
| PCI with stents | 936 | 150 | 196 | ur |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 782 | 40 | 75 | ur |
| PCI left main | 98 | 9 | 15 | ur |
| CTO | 10 | 0 | 25 | ur |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.24 | 1.65 | 1.45 | ur |
| Total nr. of stents | 1280 | 248 | 330 | ur |
| Cutting, Scoring | 20 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Rotabalation | 5 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Shockwave | 10 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| OCT | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Renal PTA | 1 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Carotid PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 3 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Peripheral angiography | 5 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Other interventions | ||||
| TAVI | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur |
Table 2
Reported data from all Interventional Cardiology Centers from Romania in 2024.
| CITY | Bucharest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | CC. Iliescu | SUUB | SUB | Agrippa Ionescu | Militar | Bagdasar | Elias | Sf. Ioan | Ponderas |
| Nr. Of Cath labs | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Nr. in training operators | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||||
| Coronarography | 2780 | 2505 | 1640 | 880 | 2937 | 1248 | 1530 | 372 | 346 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1321 | 1226 | 660 | 158 | 1028 | 669 | 764 | 125 | 66 |
| PCI without stents | 93 | 62 | 10 | 22 | 93 | 8 | 50 | 11 | 2 |
| PCI with stents | 1228 | 1164 | 650 | 136 | 935 | 661 | 714 | 114 | 64 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 586 | 435 | 405 | 15 | 355 | 441 | 483 | 11 | 10 |
| PCI left main | ur | 52 | 74 | 7 | 63 | 66 | 67 | 7 | 1 |
| CTO | ur | 30 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 34 | 32 | ur | 2 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.4 | 1.294 | 1.90 | 1.15 | 1.70 | 1.44 | 1.33 | 1.30 | 1.40 |
| Total nr. of stents | 1728 | 1586 | 1235 | 183 | 1587 | 955 | 1017 | 163 | 90 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 32 | 4 | 28 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Rotabalation | 15 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Shockwave | 5 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| FFR/IFR | 15 | 3 | 24 | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| IVUS | 20 | 2 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| OCT | 18 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 291 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 291 | 0 | 28 | 56 | 34 |
| Renal PTA | ur | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 62 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 134 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 223 | 1 | 21 | 35 | 4 |
| Peripheral angiography | 586 | 80 | 0 | 229 | 1167 | 107 | 94 | 279 | 122 |
| Other interventions | |||||||||
| TAVI | 214 | 28 | 97 | 22 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| MitraClip | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 24 | 8 | 28 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 57 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| CITY | Bucharest | Cluj Napoca | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Sanador | Monza-Ares Bucureşti | Colentina | Medlife | Institutul Inimii Cluj | SCJU Cluj | Monza-Ares Cluj | Sp. Recuperare Cluj |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 3 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Nr. of training operators | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||||||
| Coronarography | 1187 | 1033 | 417 | 423 | 3180 | 1252 | 339 | 295 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 156 | 368 | 108 | 88 | 1577 | 748 | 173 | 156 |
| PCI without stents | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 60 | 43 | 12 | 2 |
| PCI with stents | 153 | 362 | 104 | 78 | 1517 | 705 | 161 | 154 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 683 | 210 | 0 | 2 |
| PCI left main | 3 | 41 | ur | 3 | 138 | 52 | 16 | 0 |
| CTO | 5 | 60 | ur | 5 | 125 | 24 | 6 | 0 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.27 | 1.82 | 1.67 | 1.4 | 1.43 | 1.93 | 1.44 | ur |
| Total nr. of stents | 199 | 668 | 174 | 110 | 2253 | 1447 | 232 | ur |
| Cutting, Scoring | 5 | ur | 7 | 5 | 86 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Rotabalation | 1 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 17 | 4 | 0 |
| Shockwave | 1 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| OCT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 131 | 109 | 13 | 30 | 180 | 335 | 49 | 204 |
| Renal PTA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 4 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 8 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 2 | 26 | 0 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 37 | 0 | 19 | 41 | 190 | 153 | 61 | ur |
| Peripheral angiography | 556 | 208 | 43 | 60 | 54 | 431 | 56 | 287 |
| Other interventions | ||||||||
| TAVI | 94 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 28 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 25 | 35 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| CITY | Iaşi | Târgu Mureş | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | IBCV Iaşi | Arcadia Iasi | Sp. Sf. Spiridon | IBCV Tg Mureş | CardioMed Tg. Mures | SCJU Tg. Mureş | Topmed |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Nr. of in training operators | ur | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||
| Coronarography | 4732 | 833 | 1531 | 1462 | 810 | 979 | 1256 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 2111 | 81 | 1133 | 1148 | 265 | 763 | 150 |
| PCI without stents | 152 | 0 | 60 | 132 | 0 | 15 | 5 |
| PCI with stents | 1959 | 81 | 1073 | 1016 | 265 | 748 | 145 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 876 | 0 | 301 | 491 | 0 | 545 | 0 |
| PCI left main | ur | ur | 113 | 159 | 33 | 45 | 7 |
| CTO | ur | ur | 40 | 36 | 14 | 21 | 0 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.70 | 1.19 | 2.07 | 1.54 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.5 |
| Total nr. of stents | 3586 | 97 | 1776 | 1572 | 301 | 793 | 206 |
| Cutting, Scoring | ur | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Rotabalation | ur | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Shockwave | ur | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FFR/IFR | 5 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| IVUS | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| OCT | ur | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 92 | 4 | 0 | 119 | 77 | 23 | 56 |
| Renal PTA | 26 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 92 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 210 | ur | 0 | 39 | 14 | 7 | 19 |
| Peripheral angiography | 1104 | 101 | 27 | 152 | 88 | 60 | 95 |
| Other interventions | |||||||
| TAVI | 107 | 0 | 0 | 181 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | ur | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | ur | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | ur | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CITY | Timişoara | Braşov | Oradea | Suceava | Baia Mare | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | IBCV Timişoara | Clinicco Brasov | Sp. Jud. Brasov | Sf. Constantin Brasov | Sp. Jud. Oradea | Sp. Jud. Suceava | Sp. Jud. Baia Mare |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 8 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Coronary Interventions | |||||||
| Coronarography | 4157 | 1169 | 1519 | 1264 | 1966 | 547 | 789 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1979 | 353 | 1780 | 402 | 1052 | 771 | 495 |
| PCI without stents | 171 | 9 | 286 | 31 | 45 | 43 | 35 |
| PCI with stents | 1808 | 344 | 1494 | 401 | 1007 | 728 | 460 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 1124 | 11 | 551 | 1 | 667 | 351 | 220 |
| PCI left main | 219 | 8 | 30 | 32 | 68 | 31 | 38 |
| CTO | 117 | 14 | 4 | ur | 87 | 30 | 12 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.93 | 1.18 | 1.00 | 1.34 | 2.4 | 1.55 | 1.37 |
| Total nr. of stents | 3505 | 407 | 1494 | 538 | 2523 | 1062 | 676 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 20 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 20 |
| Rotabalation | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| Shockwave | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5 |
| FFR/IFR | 17 | 52 | 24 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| IVUS | 0 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| OCT | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | |||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 51 | 14 | ur | 12 | 57 | 0 | 36 |
| Renal PTA | 11 | 2 | ur | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Carotid PTA | 89 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 18 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 47 | 19 | ur | 4 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| Peripheral angiography | 530 | 33 | ur | 3 | 167 | 0 | 112 |
| Other interventions | |||||||
| TAVI | 66 | 0 | 19 | 30 | 23 | 0 | 51 |
| MitraClip | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 19 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CITY | Sibiu | Constanta | Ploiesti | Pitesti | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Polisano Sibiu | Sp. Jud. Sibiu | Monza - Ares Constanta | HEKA | Sp. Jud. Ploiesti | Sp. Jud. Pitesti |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||||
| Coronarography | 749 | 765 | 480 | 550 | 775 | 1210 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 202 | 419 | 511 | 209 | 516 | 690 |
| PCI without stents | 0 | 103 | 18 | 6 | 62 | 75 |
| PCI with stents | 202 | 316 | 493 | 203 | 454 | 615 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 0 | 22 | 235 | 0 | 172 | 284 |
| PCI left main | 14 | 20 | 32 | 25 | 10 | 31 |
| CTO | 35 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 23 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.70 | 1.71 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.30 | 1.41 |
| Total nr. of stents | 339 | 543 | 665 | 358 | 595 | 868 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 48 |
| Rotabalation | 15 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Shockwave | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| OCT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 1 | 56 |
| Renal PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 20 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 0 | 39 |
| Peripheral angiography | 30 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 69 | 123 |
| Other interventions | ||||||
| TAVI | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CITY | Craiova | Tulcea | Galaţi | Bucharest | Tg. Jiu | Onesti | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital | Sp. Jud. Craiova | Monza - Ares Tulcea | Sp. Jud. Galat’i | NORD | Memorial Hospital | Angio medica | Sp. Jud. | Sp. Mun. |
| Nr. Of Cathlabs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nr. Independent operators | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nr. of in training operators | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coronary Interventions | ||||||||
| Coronarography | 2364 | 282 | 257 | 474 | 58 | 741 | 9 | 70 |
| Total nr. of PCI1 | 1078 | 233 | 196 | 45 | 9 | 65 | 8 | 42 |
| PCI without stents | 122 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PCI with stents | 956 | 184 | 181 | 34 | 6 | 65 | 8 | 42 |
| STEMI with primary PCI | 715 | 33 | 66 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 0 |
| PCI left main | 89 | ur | 10 | 7 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| CTO | 12 | ur | 30 | 4 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Stents per patient2 | 1.19 | 1.6 | 1.86 | 1.61 | 2.3 | ur | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Total nr. of stents | 1289 | 380 | 337 | 55 | 14 | ur | 11 | 63 |
| Cutting, Scoring | 15 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Rotabalation | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Shockwave | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| FFR/IFR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| IVUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| OCT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral interventions | ||||||||
| Peripheral PTA 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ur | 14 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Renal PTA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Carotid PTA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Total nr. of stents in peripheral PTA | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral angiography | ur | 20 | 0 | 74 | 15 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Other interventions | ||||||||
| TAVI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| MitraClip | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Aortic endoprosthesis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
| Interventions in structural heart disease4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ur | 0 | 0 |
12 It will represent the ratio between the total number of implanted stents and the total number of patients undergoing PCI
14 Interventions in cardiac structural diseases: percutaneous closures of DSA, DSV, PFO, arterial duct, balloon valvulotomies, left atrial appendage closure.
1 (PCI - percutaneous coronary intervention, STEMI - ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, DES – drug eluting stent, BVS - bioresorbable vascular scaffold, FFR - fractional flow reserve, IFR - instantaneous wave-free ratio, IVUS – intravascular ultrasound, OCT - optical coherence tomography, PTA - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, TAVI - transcatheter aortic valve implantation, UR – unreported or data not available)
The annual number of PCIs in each interventional cardiology center in Romania is shown in Figures 1 and 2. A direct comparison of data from 2014 to 2024 highlights the continuous increase in the workload of these centers until 2021, when a clear decrease is observed (Figure 3). In 2021, the number of PCIs increased close to the pre-pandemic era. In 2024, 26,097 PCIs were performed in Romania compared to 24,212 in 2023, representing a 7.2% increase. The total number of primary PCIs increased by 9% in 2024 compared to 2023 (Figure 4).
Figure 1
Total number of PCIs in 2023 in all interventional centers from Romania (PCI - percutaneous coronary intervention).
Figure 2
Total number of PCIs in 2024 in all interventional centers from Romania (PCI - percutaneous coronary intervention).
Figure 3
Total number of percutaneous coronary interventions from 2014 to 2024 in Romania.
Figure 4
Total number of primary PCIs in STEMI patients from 2015 to 2024 in interventional centers from Romania (PCI - percutaneous coronary intervention, STEMI - ST segment elevation myocardial infarction).
In 2024, 2,478 peripheral angioplasties were performed, representing a 6.2% increase compared to 2023 (Figure 5). The number of TAVI procedures doubled annually between 2015 and 2019, and this trend continued in 2024 with a 19.6% increase compared to 2023 (Figure 6). The number of procedures performed for structural heart diseases increased by 63.6% from 2023 to 2024 (Figure 6).
Figure 5
Total number of peripheral angioplasties from 2014 to 2024 in Romania (only in interventional cardiology centers).
Figure 6
Total number of TAVI and interventions in SHDs performed from 2017 to 2024 in Romania (TAVI - transcatheter aortic valve implantation, SHDs – structural heart diseases).
The data analysis in this study is limited to centers that responded to the Interventional Cardiology Working Group’s request. Some centers did not participate or provided inadequate data. We emphasize the importance of participation and accurate data from all interventional cardiology centers in Romania to better understand the phenomenon.
There is a need for a Mandatory Interventional Cardiology National Registry to objectively monitor these healthcare services in a standardized manner and guide the development of interventional cardiology in Romania.
Acknowledgement
We want to thank for their significant contribution to data collection to: Dr. Adrian Bucsa, Prof. Dr. Vlad Iliescu, Prof. Dr. CC Iliescu, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Bucharest; Dr. Cristian Udroiu and Prof. Dr. Dragos Vinereanu, Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Lucian Câlmâc, Emergency Clinic Hospital and NORD, Bucharest; Dr. Emanuel Radu, Emergency Clinical Hospital, Prof. Dr. Agrippa Ionescu, Bucharest; Dr. Sebastian Botezatu and Dr. Cristina Spînu, Central Military Emergency University Hospital; Dr. Carol Davila, Bucharest; Dr. Valentin Chioncel, Bagdasar-Arseni, Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Mihai Melnic, Elias Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Octavian Zara, Sf. Ioan Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Rodica Niculescu, Sanador Clinical Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Gabriel Crismariu, Ponderas Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Iulian Calin, ARES Centers of Excellence in Cardiology and Radiology, Bucharest and Ares-Monza, Constanta and Cluj Napoca; Dr. Emilian Mihai, Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest; Dr. Florina Pinte, Medlife, Bucharest; Dr. Stefan Mot and Dr. Mihai Cocoi, Heart Institute; Niculae Stancioiu, Cluj-Napoca; Prof. Dr. Dan Olinic and Dr. Dan Tataru, County Emergency Hospital, Cluj-Napoca; Dr. Bogdan Dutu, Spitalul de Recuperare Cluj-Napoca; Dr. Amin Bazyani, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases; Prof. Dr. George IM Georgescu and Dr. Igor Nedelciuc, Arcadia, Iasi; Dr. Ovidiu Mitu, Sf. Spiridon Hospital, Iasi; Prof. Dr. Imre Benedek and Prof. Dr. Teodora Benedek, County Emergency Hospital and CardioMed, Târgu Mures; Dr. Ayman Elkahlout and Dr. Viorel Nicolae, Emergency Institute For Cardiovascular Diseases, Târgu Mures; Dr. Răzvan Şerban, Topmed, Târgu Mures; Prof. Dr. Cristian Mornos, Institute Of Cardiovascular Disease, Timisoara; Dr. Costica Baba, Clinicco, Brasov; Dr. Florin Ortan and Dr. Alexandru Ispas, County Emergency Hospital, Brasov; Dr. Mihai Ursu, Sf. Constantin Hospital, Brasov; Dr. Virgil Popa and Dr. Mihnea Nichita, County Emergency Clinical Hospital, Oradea; Dr. Dan Filip, County Emergency Hospital “Dr. Constantin Opris”, Baia Mare; Dr. Nicolae Florescu, Polisano, Sibiu; Dr. Ioan Bitea, County Emergency Hospital, Sibiu; Dr. Marian Albu and Dr. Victor Iorga, County Emergency Hospital, Ploiesti; Dr. Elvis Botu and Dr. Gabriel Stanica, County Emergency Hospital, Pitesti; Dr. Radu Stavaru and Dr. Paul Trasca; County Emergency Hospital, Craiova; Dr. Matei Florin, County Emergency Hospital, Buzäu, Dr. Mihai Marinescu, County Emergency Hospital, Galati.
Notes
[6] Conflicts of interest Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
[7] Informed Consent Statement
Written informed consent to publish this paper was obtained from the patient.
[8] Funding body
None