Original title: High-Speed Rotational Atherectomy Before Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent Implantation in Complex Calcified Coronary Lesions. The Randomized ROTAXUS (Rotational Atherectomy Prior to Taxus Stent Treatment for Complex Native Coronary Artery Disease) Trial. Reference: Mohamed Abdel-Wahab et al. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv 2013; article in press Heavily calcified lesions are difficult and may prevent the appropriate expansion of a...
Original title: Predictors of Treatment in Acute Coronary Syndromes in the Elderly: Impact on Decision Making and Clinical Outcome After Interventional Versus Conservative Treatment. Reference: Harald Rittger et al. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions 80:735–743 (2012). This study, recently published in Cath Cardiovasc Interven, was performed to determine the factors that helped physicians decide to be conservative or invasive....
Hypertension treatment has evolved considerably over time. However, managing adverse events driven by medication is still challenging, as is low patient adherence, be it because of polimedication or associated costs. Approximately 10% of patients do not reach optimal blood pressure targets, despite adherence optimal medical treatment (OMT); this condition is known as resistant hypertension. Renal...
Mitral annulus calcification (MAC) affects between 8% and 23% of the population. It is more common in women and patients with renal insufficiency. This phenomenon is characterized by an increase in valvular annulus fibrosis, which can extend and affect the leaflets. The presence of MAC is associated with valve regurgitation or stenosis, increasing mortality and...
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug eluting stents (DES) can present limitations, especially in the form of stent thrombosis or instent restenosis (ISR). These findings have furthered the development of drub coated balloons (DCB). The safety and efficacy of DCB have already been shown in the context of ISR and de novo small vessel coronary...
Lately, the complexity of percutaneous coronary artery interventions (PCI) has seen an increase, mainly driven by the increasing prevalence of coronary lesion calcification, which represents a significant challenge for interventionists. Untreated calcification might result in insufficient stent expansion, a high risk factor of thrombosis and instent restenosis. Historically, several devices have been used to treat...
Degenerative mitral valve regurgitation affects the mitral apparatus and is related to severe insufficiency. At present, surgery is the treatment of choice for patients at low risk. Oftentimes, this disease affects the elderly and/or those at high surgical risk, edge-to-edge repair being an excellent treatment alternative. We all know that the different stages of ventricular...
Timely percutaneous intervention of STEMI patients effectively reduces MI size and mortality, which currently makes it the first line of treatment. A fundamental aspect is activation and platelet aggregation, which is why, in addition to creating networks to optimize STEMI treatment, prehospital drug treatments have been implemented. The COMPARECrush looked at whether early and powerful...
Untreated tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has been associated to high morbimortality. Surgical treatment of isolated severe TR is complex and carries a high mortality rate. A transcatheter treatment of this valve is currently being developed, and different concepts are being applied to the new devices. Even though most TR is secondary, atrial functional tricuspid regurgitation (A-FTR)...
While transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has shown benefits, significant coronary artery disease affects 50% or more of patients who undergo such procedure. However, it is still unclear which is the best treatment strategy or how to handle this condition. Quantitative flow ratio (QFR) could be a non-invasive option to assess the severity of coronary...