1- Everolimus-Eluting Stents Finally Have a Rival and Not Just a “Non-Inferior” Stent
In this large randomized trial, there were significant differences as regards both target-lesion failure and target-vessel-related infarction, which persisted through a 2-year follow-up and favored treatment with an ultrathin-strut bioresorbable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (Orsiro) compared with the gold standard, a durable-polymer everolimus-eluting stent (Xience).
2- AHA 2018 | New Dyslipidemia Guidelines Support Non-Statin Therapy and Coronary Artery Calcium Screening
These new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) start recommending ezetimibe or PCSK9 inhibition in select high-risk patients and proposing noninvasive coronary artery calcium screening with computerized tomography to help make decisions about patients who fall into the gray zone.
3- Strategies to Reduce Acute Kidney Injury in Angioplasty
The title of this article leads us to think that we will find a list of things that we can do to reduce kidney injury. However, (unfortunately) sodium bicarbonate showed no benefit over saline and n-acetylcysteine showed no benefit over a placebo for the reduction of kidney damage after coronary angioplasty.
4- The 10 Commandments of ESC’s New STEMI Guidelines
The authors have given an entertaining account of the most relevant points and differences between the new STEMI guidelines and the prior ones, from 2014. The article features 10 points resembling the ten commandments, which makes it easy to read, compared to the tedious task of reading the complete guidelines.
5- Ten Commandments of the European Hypertension Guidelines: Several “Sins Allowed” Compared with American Guidelines
These new hypertension guidelines (which were as long-awaited as the American ones, back then) finally emerged in Barcelona, at the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Congress. The document was issued jointly with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
6- Infrainguinal Bypass Following Failed Endovascular Intervention Has a Different Outcome
We often inform our patients we should first approach the superficial femoral with an endovascular intervention, and that should it fail or develop restenosis, we could always resort to a bypass. We were not lying when we’d assume a bypass following endovascular intervention would have the same outcome as a primary bypass. Simply put, no one had shown otherwise.
7- The Importance of Tibial Artery Patency in the Rechanneling of the Femoral Artery
After rechanneling occluded superficial femoro-popliteal arteries, interventional physicians are left with the question of how to proceed with infrapopliteal disease. This work (soon to be published in Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg) shows us the importance of achieving patency in tibial arteries so as to obtain better mid-term outcomes.
8- Aortic Stenosis and Dialysis: Is TAVR the Strategy of Choice?
TAVR has been shown beneficial in high and moderate risk patients, but there is a group of patients that require dialysis on account of kidney deterioration. This comorbidity is due to bad cardiovascular evolution associated to diabetes, bleeding and thromboembolic events.
9- Coronary angiogram for all post cardiac arrest patients?
There is no doubt cases of post out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) secondary to an ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (STEMI) should be submitted to a coronary angiogram and eventually an angioplasty (PCI). However, in patients with non ST elevation MI, the use of a similar invasive strategy is still under discussion.
10- Proximal anterior descending artery angioplasty: what are its long-term outcomes?
Certain coronary lesions have been historically discouraged for endovascular treatment. Among these can be found left main coronary artery lesions, multivessel disease, and proximal anterior descending artery lesions. As a matter of fact, the latter is actually considered separately as a criterion for choosing the revascularization method.
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