Optical coherence tomography (OCT)-guided drug-eluting stent implantation improves early strut coverage compared with angiography-guided angioplasty. No difference was observed in terms of strut coverage between permanent-polymer everolimus-eluting stents and bioresorbable-polymer biolimus-eluting stents. Short-term dual antiplatelet therapy may be feasible in selected patients with early strut coverage. This study sought to measure early strut coverage...
The Importance of Tibial Artery Patency in the Rechanneling of the Femoral Artery
After rechanneling occluded superficial femoro-popliteal arteries, interventional physicians are left with the question of how to proceed with infrapopliteal disease. This work (soon to be published in Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg) shows us the importance of achieving patency in tibial arteries so as to obtain better mid-term outcomes. The gist is that, after an...
Clinical Improvement Without Ventricular Function Improvement After CTO
The benefits offered to patients by attempting the rechanneling of a chronic total occlusion are still unclear. Additionally, sometimes the procedural risks are somewhat undetermined. Taking into account these controversies, this work sought to prove whether successful rechanneling of a chronic total occlusion improves ventricular function. This is not a soft endpoint; it has been...
TCT 2018 | OAC-ALONE: Anticoagulation Alone 1 Year After Stenting in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
Up to now, there had been no randomized controlled trial assessing oral anticoagulation alone vs. oral anticoagulation plus antiplatelet therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation 1 year after stenting in a setting of stable coronary disease. Such was the vacuum that this work, presented at TCT 2018 and published simultaneously in Circulation, attempted to fill. This trial...
Simple Lab Tests to Better Stratify Low Flow and Low Gradient AS Patients
Combining B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and high-sensitive cardiac troponin T measures undeniably helps to better stratify severe aortic stenosis patients with low flow and low gradient. Many patients in these conditions clearly benefit from a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure, and for others it is simply useless, and given its high cost, better stratification...
An Effort Worth Your While: Rechanneling vs. Optimal Medical Treatment in Total Occlusions
Successful rechanneling of a chronic total occlusion (currently around 90%) leads to significant improvement in quality of life and symptom frequency in patients with stable chronic angina compared with optimal medical treatment alone. These results are promising and what we ultimately expected, although symptoms, as a primary endpoint in themselves, are in the eye of...
ESC 2018 | ART: Disappointment with Bilateral Internal-Thoracic Artery Grafts After a 10-Year Follow-Up
Published 5-year results had been neutral for bilateral vs. single internal-thoracic artery grafts, but, at the time, surgeons argued that the time period analyzed was not enough and that a difference would be observed after 10 years of follow-up, once the trial finished. Such follow-up was presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2018...
EXCEL Sub-Study: The Site of the Left Main Coronary Artery Lesion Does Not Alter History
The EXCEL study, originally presented at TCT 2016 and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), showed that angioplasty and surgery in patients with left main coronary artery disease have similar rates of mortality, infarction, and stroke at 3 years. This sub-study, recently published in J Am Coll Cardiol Intv, adds that the...
Should Sex Be Taken into Account with Left Main Coronary Artery Revascularization?
The EXCEL trial did not find the sex of patients with left main coronary artery disease to be an independent predictor of adverse events after revascularization. However, women who underwent angioplasty had a trend towards worse outcomes, a finding that might be related to comorbidities and somewhat increased chances of peri-procedural complications. In its formal...
EuroPCR 2018 Highlights | The Best of a Congress that Left Plenty of News
A new edition of EuroPCR has come and gone. Now is the time to make a balance and review the main presentations at one of the most important European congresses on cardiovascular interventions. Thus, we have selected the six most relevant studies presented at the event. In our opinion, you cannot afford to miss them!...