Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. The transradial approach has been advanced in time, and is being increasingly used in more and more complex angioplasty procedures with the same benefit, compared to the classical femoral approach. As a result, in many high volume centers, this reality has demoted the femoral approach to a few particular procedures.…
Chronic Total Occlusion: Bioresorbable Scaffolds or Drug Eluting Stents?
There is little evidence to support the safety and efficacy of bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) for the treatment of chronic total occlusions (CTO). This multicenter registry included consecutive patients with CTO receiving BRS (Absorb; Abbott Vascular) vs. 2nd generation drug eluting stents (DES). Primary end point was target vessel failure at long term (composite…
Retrograde Technique: High Success Rate in CTO
Original Title: Outcomes With the Use of the Retrograde Approach for Coronary Chronic Total Occlusion Interventions in a Contemporary Multicenter US Registry. Reference: Dimitri Karmpaliotis et al. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2016 Jun;9(6). This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of the retrograde technique for chronic total occlusions. Researchers compared retrograde vs. anterograde technique outcomes…
Chronic total occlusions: Pilot experience with BVS
Original Title: Percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion of the coronary artery with implantation of bioresorbable everolimus-eluting scaffolds. Poznan CTO-Absorb Pilot Registry. Reference: Maciej Lesiak, et al EuroIntervention 2016;12:e144-e151 Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Chronic total occlusion (CTO) is a real challenge and have a success rate of around 80% with trained…
Successful recanalization of total occlusion: No improvement of long-term survival
Original Title: Successful Recanalization of Native Coronary Chronic Total Occlusion Is Not Associated With Improved Long-Term Survival. Reference: Pil Hyung Lee et al. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv. 2016. Online before print. The aim of this study was to assess long term clinical outcomes after successful recanalization of chronic total occlusion (CTO) with DES…