Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) has become the gold standard for the assessment of patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) for obstructive coronary artery disease. However, its ability to detect this condition is limited and it does not detect non-obstructive myocardial ischemia, which can be overlooked. To address these limitations, a prospective, observational, multicenter study was...
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease affects 1%-2% of the population and manifests with severe aortic stenosis in the middle-aged. It characterizes for a very different anatomy with more calcification than the tricuspid aortic valve. At present, surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) is the first treatment indication. TAVR in this scenario has shown, in different studies,...
For years, treating dyslipidemia mainly focused on reducing LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with statins, which had shown benefits in reducing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a form of apoB-containing lipoprotein bound to a hydrophilic, highly glycosylated protein called apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)]. Circulating levels of Lp(a) are genetically determined, and are hardly affected by eating habits...
Chronic total occlusion (CTO) affect up to 20% of patients undergoing angiographic diagnostic tests. During the last two decades, recanalization technique refinement, the development of specific devices and operator skill improvement have elevated procedural success rate up to 90%. However, there are still particular complications such as collateral perforation and access site complications. This is...
Extracranial carotid artery disease represents 15 to 20% of all strokes. Carotid revascularization plays a role in primary and secondary prevention of cerebrovascular events. Outcomes of two common revascularization strategies, Carotid endarterectomy (CAE) and carotid artery stenting (CAS), have been studied and compared. In recent years, complications associated to CAS have dropped thanks to technical...
Regardless of whether it is attempted through percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or myocardial revascularization surgery (MRS), complete revascularization (CR) is not always achieved. Overall, it is more frequent with surgery than with percutaneous treatment. Additionally, incomplete revascularization (IR) has proven to be associated with worse outcomes compared to CR. Researchers conducted an analysis of the...
Transcatheter aortic valve intervention (TAVI) has been shown beneficial over the years. However, a significant subgroup of patients with small aortic annulus, which make approximately one third of cases and have a higher incidence in women, face additional challenge, such as higher incidence of mismatch, reduced exercise capacity and shorter durability. Self-expanding and balloon expandable...
On the one hand, chronic peripheral vascular disease is on the rise. On the other, over the past 20 years, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has gained considerable ground thanks to various new devices, replacing surgery as an alternative in most scenarios. Both strategies have shown similar results, but PCI has fewer complications and shorter hospital stays....
The use of intravascular imaging to identify vulnerable plaque (VP) has proven to be very useful, as such plaque is associated with an increase in major adverse cardiac events. Optimal medical treatment is currently considered the standard strategy to stabilize VP. However, the safety and effectiveness of preventive treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in...
Most randomized studies on revascularization in stable coronary artery disease exclude left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD). One example of this was the ISCHEMIA study. However, the benefits of functional lesion assessment, as demonstrated in the FAME studies, highlight the importance of this tool in guiding decisions regarding revascularization. Nevertheless, the clinical outcomes of patients...