The immediate and long-term results of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in 1939 patients with single-vessel coronary disease (SVD) from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Registry on PTCA (early experience) have been compared to recent results in 1551 patients, also with SVD, pooled from three centers in the USA (current experience). The circumflex artery, rarely subjected to PTCA in the past, now constitutes 16% of the total. The success rate has increased from 65 to 92% and, contrary to previous results, all three coronary arteries share at present a similar rate of success. The complications rate has been halved from 8.4 to 4.2%. These differences stem from the present level of operator expertise and the improved instrumentation. On the other hand, the severity of coronary stenosis and its reduction in successfully treated patients, as well as the rate of recurrence after successful PTCA in the current experience, show no difference from the past. The possible reasons for these similarities are only speculative at this time.