Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. The current population of frail and elderly patients is increasing, and while non-ST-segment acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) guidelines recommend early invasive treatment, this group has been excluded from most studies on the subject. Current information on its efficacy is controversial but agrees with the notion that this is a higher-risk group<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/07/11/invasive-strategy-in-frail-patients-is-safe/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Mitral regurgitation accounts for around 25% of valvular diseases and is a strong mortality predictor in heart disease. One of the challenges of this disease is that patients respond favorably to medical treatment for a long time, which makes hard to establish the right time to perform an intervention without<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/07/05/mitraclip-in-severe-mr-5-year-mortality-rate-similar-to-surgery/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. It has been shown that significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is an independent predictor of bad evolution in the presence of mitral valve disease. Its prevalence is not low, reaching up to 50% in patients undergoing surgery for mitral regurgitation (MR). This study included 61 patients with significant TR and MR. 27<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/07/02/treating-tricuspid-and-mitral-valves-with-mitraclip-improves-quality-of-life/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Tricuspid regurgitation (TR), both isolated or associated with other left valve diseases, has been associated with higher rates of heart failure hospitalization and of cardiovascular death. Recent studies in elderly high-risk patients who underwent percutaneous treatment of left valve disease have shown the presence of TR to be associated with<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/07/02/tricuspid-regurgitation-mitraclip-improves-survival/" title="Read more" >...</a>
This observational study included 231 patients from 6 sites who presented chronic total occlusions and underwent rechanneling procedures using currently available techniques, which were successful in 90% of all cases (210 patients). All patients who underwent successful rechanneling received a SYNERGY stent and most of them underwent intravascular ultrasound (90.5%). There was only 1 patient lost to clinical follow-up<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/05/31/europcr-2018-consistent-cto-study-rechanneling-with-current-techniques-and-synergy-stents/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The frequency of bicuspid aortic valves (BcAV) are around 1%, but in 60+ patients it is associated to severe aortic stenosis. Even though surgery is the standard treatment, TAVR is the “off label” indication in high risk patients. BcAV presents differences with tricuspids given that it is more elliptic, has asymmetric calcification and more<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/05/02/bicuspid-valves-do-not-increase-mortality-in-tavr/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Transulnar access can be as safe and effective as transradial access, and it is a particularly good alternative for the preservation of radial artery patency or when such vessel presents a difficult anatomy. This new meta-analysis that will be published soon in Catheter Cardiovasc Interv showed a relatively high failure rate for that access, but<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/03/26/transulnar-access-another-ace-up-our-sleeve-before-transfemoral-access/" title="Read more" >...</a>
A new study raises an alarm against expanding transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures to low surgical risk patients, since 2 year mortality seems higher in these patients with TAVR, compared to conventional surgery. This study will soon be published in Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. Expanding TAVR to low risk patients might involve risks we have not<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/03/14/red-light-for-tavr-in-low-surgical-risk-patients/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been proven to reduce mortality and improve the quality of life of patients with pure severe aortic stenosis (PAS). However, there is a significant number of patients who experience mixed aortic stenosis associated with moderate/severe aortic regurgitation (MAS). These subjects were excluded from the PARTNER<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2017/12/12/tavr-in-patients-with-pure-vs-mixed-aortic-stenosis-benefits-and-evolution/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Transcatheter mitral valve repair with MitraClip has shown good results in symptomatic patients with extreme surgical risk in different studies. However, its “real world” benefits have not been studied in depth due to how complex this strategy is compared with other usual procedures. This study analyzed 2952 patients who underwent mitral<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2017/11/10/mitral-valve-repair-with-mitraclip-is-safe-in-high-risk-patients/" title="Read more" >...</a>