An angioplasty is a procedure performed to improve blood flow in the body’s arteries and veins. In an angioplasty procedure, imaging techniques are used to guide a balloon tipped catheter (a very thin tube) into an artery or a vein and advance it to where the vessel is blocked or narrowed. The balloon is then...
Angioplasty using a drug eluting balloon in the superficial femoral artery
Original title: Drug-Coated Balloon Versus Standard Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty for the Treatment of Superficial Femoral and Popliteal Peripheral Artery Disease 12-Month Results From the IN.PACT SFA Randomized Trial. Reference: Gunnar Tepe et al. Circulation. 2015;131:495-502. This interesting study randomly selected 331 patients with intermittent claudication or ischemic rest pain due to stenosis of the superficial femoral artery or...
Zotarolimus eluting stent with one month of dual antiplatelet therapy
Original title: Zotarolimus-Eluting Versus Bare-Metal Stents in Uncertain Drug-Eluting Stent Candidates. Reference: Marco Valgimigli et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(8):805-815. The use of drug eluting stents (DES) in patients at high risk of bleeding or thrombosis has not been studied prospectively. Data on patients at high risk of bleeding and low restenosis are limited. This study compared...
The MGuard stent shows a trend toward reduced mortality in PCI
Original title: Mesh-Covered Embolic Protection Stent Implantation in ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction. Final 1-Year Clinical and Angiographic Results From the MGUARD for Acute ST Elevation Reperfusion Trial. Reference: DariuszDudek et al. CircCardiovascInterv. 2015 Feb;8(2). The MGuard is a micronet mesh-covered stent designed to reduce distal embolization in the context of ST elevation myocardial infarction. In the MASTER study...
Bioabsorbable stents also in peripheral territory
Original title: Evaluation of the Biodegradable Peripheral Igaki-Tamai Stent in the Treatmentof De Novo Lesions in the Superficial Femoral Artery. The GAIA Study. Reference: Martin Werner et al. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv 2014;7:305–12. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of the biodegradable stent Igaki-Tamai (Igaki Medical Planning Company, Kyoto, Japan) in...
Safety and efficacy of DES in saphenous vein bypass graft PCI
Original title: Safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting versus bare-metal stents in saphenous vein bypass graft percutaneous coronary interventions: insights from the Veterans Affairs CART program. Reference: Aggarwal V et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;64:1825-1836. This study retrospectively evaluated 2471 receiving after saphenous vein graft (SVG) PCI between October and September 2011. Outcomes were compared using propensity...
Hybrid Revascularization in Multiple Vessels
Original title: Hybrid Revascularization for Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease Reference: Mariuz Gassior, et al. J Am Cardiol Intv 2014;7:1277-83 According to the international guidelines, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) continues to be the “Gold Standard” treatment for multiple vessels diseases. However, second generation DES and the hybrid strategy may eventually change indications. This study randomized 102...
Less Definite Thrombosis with Everolimus Eluting Stents
Original title: Three-Year Outcomes After Revascularization With Everolimus-and Sirulimus -Eluting Stents From the SORT OUT IV Trial. Reference: Lisette Okkels Jensen et al. J Am CollCardiolIntv, 2014;7: 840-8. Drug eluting stents (DES) have been shown to safely and effectively reduce restenosis compared to bare-metal stents. While the risk of thrombosis remains a matter of concern when it comes...
Orbital Atherectomy improves calcified lesions treatment outcomes
Original title: Pivotal Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of the Orbital Atherectomy System in Treating de Novo, Severely Calcified Coronary Lesions (ORBIT II) Reference: Jeffrey Chambers, et al. JACC Intervention 2014;7:510-8 Severely calcified coronary lesions, traditionally associated to difficult or impossible stent implantation, asymmetric stent expansion, higher post procedural events rate, more restenosis, more lesion revascularization,...
Dedicated two everolimus eluting stent strategies improve bifurcation PCI outcomes
Original title: Dedicated two-stents technique in complex bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention with use of everolimus-eluting stents: The EES-bifurction study. Reference: Nisharamed I. Kherada, et al. International Journal of Cardiology 2014;174:13-17 Bifurcation PCI, especially 1.1.1 Medina bifurcation lesions PCI, is particularly challenging and has been associated with increased restenosis. The use of drug eluting stents (DES) associated to...