RECHARGE Score: Explanation and Clinical Context The RECHARGE (Registry of CrossBoss and Hybrid Procedures) score is a modern angiographic scoring system developed to predict the risk of technical failure in complex percutaneous coronary interventions of chronic total occlusion (CTO-PCI) performed with hybrid techniques.
It incorporates six angiographic lesion characteristics: blunt stump, severe calcification, tortuosity ≥ 45°, lesion length ≥ 20 mm, diseased distal landing zone, and previous bypass graft on the CTO vessel. Each parameter contributes 1 point (score range 0–6).
Studies found that higher RECHARGE scores are associated with lower procedural success rates (e.g., observed AUC ~0.783 for derivation cohort) and thus may guide procedural planning, operator selection, and patient/institution risk stratification.
Because the RECHARGE score was derived in centres using the hybrid algorithm, it reflects a realistic, contemporary practice context and may outperform older scores (such as J-CTO) in hybrid CTO-PCI settings.
However, limitations include that the score is purely anatomical/lesion-based (no clinical variables) and was derived in experienced centres, so external validation in less-experienced settings is less robust.
Reference:
Maeremans J, et al. “Towards a contemporary, comprehensive scoring system for determining technical outcomes of hybrid percutaneous chronic total occlusion treatment: the RECHARGE score.” Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2018;91(2):192–202. DOI: 10.1002/ccd.27092