Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is one of the causes of acute coronary syndrome, with a prevalence between 1 and 4%, that might reach up to 35% in women <50 years old, according to recent studies. As dissections are more frequent in women, research focuses on this population. Small retrospective studies have shown different triggers and predisposing…
Stent Thrombosis: Clinical Characteristics and Event Predictors in a Contemporary Cohort
Stent thrombosis (ST) is a serious complication of coronary PCI. However, its incidence across registries is low. It has been classified according to onset into acute (less than 24 hrs.), subacute (between 24 and 30 days), late (between 30 and 365 days) and very late (later than 365 days). The estimated incidence of ST is…
Early invasive Strategy for Non-ST Elevation ACS in Chronic Kidney Disease
Many randomized studies and systematic revisions have shown that an early invasive approach (within 24hrs. after diagnosis) will not reduce mortality across the non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NST-ACS) population, hence the relevance of NST-ACS; patients with a GRACE score higher than 140 were the ones showing improved outcomes. Roughly 40% of NST-ACS patients have…
Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Treatment and Prognosis
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a non-traumatic nor iatrogenic event that causes a separation of the coronary artery tissue due to an intimal tear or a mural spontaneous hemorrhage. This event is most frequent in young females and usually causes an acute myocardial infarction that could be major. It accounts for 1% to 4%…
Angiographic Quantitative Flow Ratio-Guided Coronary Intervention: Promising Results at 2 Years
Functional assessment of coronary artery lesions with fractional flow reserve (FFR) or instant wave-free ratio (IFR) have shown improvement of most symptoms and clinical outcomes of patients with stable CAD. However, these tools recommended by the current guidelines increase procedure complexity, risk and cost. This is why the angiographic quantitative flow ratio-guided coronary intervention (QFR)…
Use of OCT FFR on ACS Clinical Outcomes
Patients undergoing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) benefit from percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). At present, there is no question about this. However, residual ischemia after PCI is associated with a worse prognosis. Angiography studies and intravascular imaging are useful to assess post intervention outcomes, but they are limited when it comes to the physiological assessment of…
Mortality and Bleeding in Access Site Choice: Systematic Review
In 1992, Kiemeneij performed the first transradial coronary procedure, following Campeau’s description of that access in 1989. It’s been 30 years since that milestone in interventional cardiology. Over time, the number of procedures conducted with this approach has increased exponentially, and it is the main approach in most centers in different clinical scenarios. Historically, the…
Heparin Pretreatment in STEACS Treatment: A New Old Ally?
The treatment of ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (STEACS) is undoubtedly reperfusion therapy with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Similarly, nobody doubts that the pretreatment with more stronger antiplatelet agents has a role in such a treatment. In certain sites, unfractionated heparin (UFH) pretreatment is also administered before the patient enters the cath lab; its aim…
RIPCORD 2 Study: Routine Assessment Using Pressure Wires in Acute Coronary Syndrome
The inclusion of fractional flow reserve (FFR) has changed how coronary interventions are treated. Current guidelines endorse its use in intermediate lesions with no evidence of ischemia in non-invasive studies in patients with multivessel disease. The original RIPCORD (Routine Pressure Wire Assessment Influence Management Strategy at Coronary Angiography for Diagnosis of Chest Pain) study proposed…
ESC 2022 | Should We Follow-Up with Functional Testing in High-Risk Patients after CTA?
While the need for repeat cinecoronary angiography after transluminal coronary angioplasty (TCA) has decreased with the use of drug-eluting stents and improved medical treatment, patients still present ischemic recurrence or cardiovascular events at follow-up. Using a functional test at follow-up after TCA or myocardial revascularization (CMR) is a frequent practice in our context. This is…
Gender Differences and 10-Year Prognosis in STEMI
Coronary artery disease in women usually develops 10 years later than in men, and some evidence suggests women have higher mortality, especially when it comes to ST elevation MI (STEMI). Registries have shown higher mortality both in hospital and at one year follow up. In part, this difference is observed because of the gap in…