In November 2019, during the American Heart Association (AHA) 2019 Scientific Sessions, researchers presented this revolutionary trial that called the attention of all cardiologists. We had to wait until March to read the fine print; back then, a global pandemic such as the current one seemed out of a science-fiction tale. The world has changed<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2020/04/01/virtual-acc-2020-controversial-trial-ischemia-finally-in-nejm/" title="Read more" >...</a>
As the number of confirmed cases increases throughout the globe, a picture is emerging as to what the direct cardiovascular effects of this pandemic may be. World-renowned physicians such as Alaide Chieffo (from the San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy) have declared that coronavirus came completely unexpected and has put healthcare systems on the verge of<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2020/03/16/coronavirus-and-the-heart-how-should-cardiologists-prepare/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Since November 2015, when the LEADERS FREE was published in NEJM, polymer-free drug coated stents had undoubtedly been the best treatment for patients at high risk of bleeding. The benefit was owed to the safety and efficacy of the polymer-free biolimus coated stent (also called umirolimus) vs. bare metal stents in the context of just<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2020/02/27/onyx-one-more-options-for-patients-at-high-risk-for-bleeding/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The results of this great multicenter “real-life” registry are similar to those of randomized clinical trials that studied fractional flow reserve (FFR). Lesion deferral based on FFR is a very safe strategy, even for lesions located in the proximal anterior descending artery. Randomized controlled studies FAME and DEFER convincingly showed the safety of lesion revascularization<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2020/01/29/ffr-in-the-time-of-ischemia/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) is frequent in severe aortic stenosis. This can be classified in: isolated pre-capillary PH, isolated post-capillary PH, and combined post-capillary and pre-capillary PH. At present, little research has looked into the disease from this perspective. The study looked at 1400 patients and divided them<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/11/13/negative-impact-of-pulmonary-hypertension-in-tavr/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. The MitraClip has been shown to benefit a certain group of patients and it is a well-known fact that a ≥5 mmHg is associated to a more torpid evolution. However, there is little evidence when it comes to venous pulmonary waves, changes in left atrial pressure and V wave. 121<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/11/07/venous-pulmonary-waveforms-in-mitraclip-have-prognostic-value/" title="Read more" >...</a>
In September 2008, interventional physicians at the Heart and Vascular Centre Hamburg conducted the first MitraClip implantation after its Conformité Européenne (CE)-marking approval. In July 2019, the same site reached an amazing milestone, 1000 MitraClips implanted, and in doing so it became the most experienced site in the world. Those 1000 patients treated had an average logistic<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/10/28/1000-mitraclips-results-from-the-worlds-most-experienced-site/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. About 12% of patients >75 years old have aortic stenosis. In 3%-4% of them, such disease is severe. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has already proven to be beneficial for extreme-, high-, and intermediate-risk patients. Regarding low-risk patients, we currently have different analyses; two of them are randomized and their results are<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/09/30/very-encouraging-results-for-tavr-in-low-risk-patients/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Bicuspid aortic stenosis patients (bicuspid AS) represent a small group and have not been included in the larger transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) studies, since they present different morphology and asymmetric calcification, which might come along with more paravalvular leak and less accurate positioning. Between 2012 and 2016, 475,315 patients<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/09/24/tavr-in-bicuspid-has-the-same-results-in-surgery-at-hospital-level/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Remote ischemic conditioning does not offer any clinical benefit to patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty, according to this study presented on Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2019. Prior studies were limited and small, but this analysis seems to provide definitive evidence with regard to ischemic pre-conditioning. The<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/09/05/esc-2019-condi-2eric-ppci-final-blow-against-ischemic-pre-conditioning-in-primary-angioplasty/" title="Read more" >...</a>