There is little information comparing contemporary drug eluting stents (DES) against bare metal stents (BMS), for PCI in saphenous vein grafts in patients receiving (CABG). This study aimed to assess clinical outcomes after PCI in saphenous vein grafts in patients receiving BMS, first generation DES, and new generation DES between 2006 and 2013. The study...
Critical ischemia in the lower limbs: Frequent Readmissions show the magnitude of this problem
Readmissions at 6 months in patients with critical ischemia in the lower limbs occur in about 50% of all cases and most of them are unplanned. This truly alarming number is cause for further concern when taking into account that only part of these readmissions are related to vascular problems. Many are caused by comorbidities...
Progress of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treated with alcohol septal ablation
Courtesy of Dr. José Álvarez. Alcohol septal ablation (ASA) for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (OHC) is a procedure introduced in 1995 as an alternative to surgical myectomy. The American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines indicate that ASA should be reserved for older patients with comorbidities, thus establishing surgical myectomy...
Joint Session SOLACI-SBHCI
Between June 21 and 23, 2017, the annual meeting of the Brazilian Society of Hemodynamics and Interventional Cardiology (SBHCI) took place. SOLACI actively participated in the event, with a SBHCI-SOLACI joint session called “Peripheral Interventions and Vascular Approaches to Structural Interventions.” SOLACI Chair, Dr. Ricardo Lluberas (Uruguay), was in charge of symposium coordination, together with Dr. Marcelo José...
The use of IVUS in unprotected left main PCI associated to better outcomes, compared to angiography guided PCI
Courtesy of Dr. Gustavo Leiva. Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) has traditionally been the procedure of choice in patients with left main coronary artery disease. However, the use of percutaneous techniques in this kind of lesions has been on the rise, partly due to recent research showing similar outcomes with both procedures. Unprotected left main...
Successful angioplasty in elderly patients with chronic total occlusion reduces mortality
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Nowadays, the number of coronary angioplasties carried out on patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) is increasing due to many studies showing that it improves ventricular function, reduces symptoms, and improves survival. However, most of these works do not include patients of over 75 years old due to their frailty and...
Same-day discharge after coronary angioplasty is increasingly popular but still not the gold standard
The length of hospital stay after elective coronary angioplasty varies significantly among operators and hospitals, according to a recent survey of interventional cardiologists in the United States (US), Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK), published in Catherization and Cardiovascular Interventions. While same-day discharge is a routine proceeding in the UK, most interventional cardiologists surveyed mentioned...
Mortality at one year in post PCI myocardial infarction
Courtesy of Dr. Brian Nazareth Donato. Multiple definitions with biomarkers and variable thresholds have been proposed to diagnose post procedural MI. The last update of the Third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction decided to use only troponin values with a threshold >5 over the normal value, on top of the clinical evidence by ECG, echocardiography...
In-hospital morbid-mortality rates for balloon aortic valvuloplasty are similar to those for transcatheter aortic valve implantation
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. The balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) was introduced by Dr. Cribier in 1986. However, given its poor results, soon after it fell into disuse. With the introduction of TAVR, it saw a revival as bridge for another intervention, even though it is still resisted in many places. The present study...
SOLACI symposium at EURO PCR 2017
The Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology proudly joined the international meeting “Euro PCR 2017”, celebrated on May 16 to 19 in the city of Paris, France. During the event, a delegation of prominent professionals, headed by SOLACI Chair Dr. Ricardo Lluberas, presented a live case entitled “Complex Left Main PCI”. The transmission took...