In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed to treat chronic total occlusion (CTO). This increase is due to the availability of more advanced technology and greater experience of both operators and specialized centers. However, it is important to note that this technique is not free<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/06/14/frequency-and-causes-of-mortality-in-chronic-total-occlusion/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The optimal treatment of true bifurcation lesions not affecting the left main coronary artery is widely debated. Results from randomized studies have shown neutral or worse outcomes with the two-stent technique. Regarding these studies, researchers used first-generation stents and the secondary branches were small. The EBC TWO study compared the provisional stenting strategy against the<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/05/29/provisional-stenting-vs-culotte-5-year-results-of-ebc-two/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The EBC MAIN LM study randomized 467 patients with severe left main coronary artery (LCA) lesions to receive provisional stenting or a two-sent strategy (Resolute or Onix stent). The two-stent strategy was decided by the operator (culotte, DK-minicrush, T/TAP). The crossover rate from those randomized to provisional stenting was 22%. After a 3-year follow-up, the composite<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/05/21/europcr-2023-left-main-coronary-artery-angioplasty-one-or-two-stents/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Use of drug-coated balloons vs. drug-eluting stents in small caliber vessels. The constant advancements in coronary device technology have significantly reduced complication rates (such as that of restenosis). However, there are gaps where a high number of undesirable events prevail, such as small vessel disease (SVD), for which, in previous studies up, the rate of<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/04/28/piccoleto-ii-drug-coated-balloons-in-small-vessels/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Sex-related MINOCA and MIOCA differences. Several international guidelines recommend invasive treatment after diagnosing an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The first studies that described acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without obstructive epicardial coronary disease reported a 10% incidence rate. Based on this significant prevalence, it was recommended that this diagnosis be classified as MINOCA for patients who<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/04/26/differences-in-events-between-minoca-and-mioca-patients-contemporaneous-cohort-analysis/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Coronary artery disease (CAD) coexists with aortic stenosis in about half the patients who suffer the latter. These patients receiving antiplatelet therapy are at a higher risk of periprocedural bleeding—one of the most frequent complications in patients who undergo transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). One way of limiting the risk for bleeding is choosing the<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/04/17/clinical-impact-of-coronary-artery-disease-on-results-after-tavr/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Several studies have used physiological assessment after a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to improve clinical outcomes. However, results are not entirely conclusive. The limitations of using these physiological assessment methods are the need for extra measurements with increased procedure time, more radiation, and more contrast, which in turn leads to higher costs. To counteract these<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/04/05/aqca-study-pre-pci-virtual-qfr-for-planning-pci-vs-conventional-angiography/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Over the years, early diagnosis of myocardial ischemia has ranged from 0-to-3-h protocols to abbreviated guidelines with point-of-care cardiac marker dosing. However, specific devices for this have not yet been validated. The Sengupta P. et al. research group evaluated the feasibility of using an infrared measuring device—placed on the wrist of patients—compared with blood sampling<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/03/10/acc-2023-ultrasensitive-troponin-i-monitoring-with-a-transdermal-wrist-device/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is one of the consequences of atherosclerosis, and it can cause pain in the limbs or tissue loss. Its treatment includes lifestyle changes such as exercise, statin therapy, antiplatelet therapy, antihypertensive medication (mainly ACE inhibitors or ARBs), and revascularization strategy. One in five patients with PAD will have experienced acute myocardial<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/02/24/relationship-between-medical-treatment-and-long-term-clinical-results-after-peripheral-vascular-intervention/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The safety and efficacy of drug-coated balloons (DCB) has been established for the treatment of in-stent restenosis of conventional bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES). Furthermore, these devices are also used to treat de novo coronary lesions, as demonstrated in the BASKET-SMALL 2—where DCBs were non-inferior to stents—and the DEBUT RCT trials—, where DCBs<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2023/02/07/is-using-drug-eluting-balloons-and-single-antiplatlelet-therapy-safe-for-patients-at-high-risk-for-bleeding-who-undergo-percutaneous-coronary-intervention/" title="Read more" >...</a>