The antiplatelet treatment strategy providing optimal balance between thrombotic and bleeding risks in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization surgery is unclear. What does seem somewhat certain is that some antiplatelet therapy is necessary to prevent early thrombosis, mainly in vein grafts, but (as opposed to what happens with angioplasty) there are other relevant factors such as…
FFR to Predict CABG Result: All Benefits in a Population Much Too Pure?
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) anastomosed to one vessel with normal or nearly normal fractional flow reserve (FFR) have poorer graft patency at one year compared against anastomosed grafts to vessels with functionally significant lesions shown by FFR. However, the recent study FARGO (Fractional Flow Reserve Versus Angiography Randomization for Graft Optimization) did not show…
PCI and Anticoagulation: What is the best strategy?
Most patients with atrial fibrillation require anticoagulation to reduce the risk of stroke or systemic embolization. Today, this is achieved with the new direct oral anticoagulants, which present lower intracranial bleeding risk compared against the old vitamin K antagonists. On the other hand, approximately between 5% to 10% of patients receiving PCI also present atrial…
Primary Prevention Guidelines Published for the First Time: Are They Useful for All Patients?
The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) have recently published primary prevention cardiovascular disease guidelines. They were originally considered very useful for general practitioners who had no choice but to review separately expert consensus or clinical practice guidelines for hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. Now, everything is concentrated in a single reference document. But is…
New FDA Updates on Paclitaxel Device Outcomes
A new FDA letter confirms late mortality signal with paclitaxel eluting stents and paclitaxel coated balloons in peripheral territory. Even though this recently published letter confirms data, there are no new recommendations on the use of these devices. After careful consideration of their own analyzis outcomes and a 2-day discussion of an advisory panel especially…
Dr. José Mangione Inaugurated as New SOLACI President
Dr. José Mangione, renowned Latin American interventional cardiologist of ample trajectory, is now in charge of the Latin American Interventional Cardiology’s destiny for the next two years, following Dr. José Luis Leiva Pons’ (Mexico) successful administration. “I am honored and delighted to take this responsibility”, stated Dr. Mangione during the closing ceremony of SOLACI-SBHCI 2019.…
Last Congress Day Full of SOLACI Activities
The last day of the SOLACI-SBHCI 2019 Congress was full of sessions where different SOLACI areas were widely represented. The first morning session was “From SOLACI to SBHCI // México, Centro América and El Caribe Present: Más Allá de las Coronarias,” which addressed issues related to coronary angioplasty, the importance of imaging in structural procedures,…
SOLACI Celebrated 25 Years during SOLACI-SBHCI 2019
During the opening ceremony of SOLACI-SBHCI 2019, the president of the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology, Dr. José Luis Leiva Pons, celebrated the first 25 years of our society’s life together with some of the greatest international personalities in our field (Dr. Gregg Stone, Dr. Martin Leon and Dr. Patrick Serruys) and former SOLACI…
Amount of Baseline Ischemia in Patients with Multivessel Disease and Long-Term Progress
According to this recent analysis of the MASS II trial, which will soon be published in JAMA, baseline ischemia is not associated with events at 10 years in patients with chronic stable angina. The ischemic burden induced through exercise does not predict events or long-term ventricular function. Such data add some suspense to the results…
How to Prevent Pharmacological Overtreating in the Elderly
Cardiovascular risk increases dramatically with over the years, which almost inevitable leads to treating the elderly with statins, based on risk. To prevent over treatment, we need to identify fragile patients (bed-ridden or with dementia), whose condition might make this treatment futile on the one hand, and on the other hand, patients who regardless their…