1- The CULPRIT-SHOCK Study Is Finally Published in NEJM and It Is Bound to Change Guidelines During SOLACI’s coverage of the TCT 2017 Congress in Denver, Colorado, we already mentioned some of the outcomes of this study that has arrived to revolutionize clinical practice, given the differences between its results and those of the classic<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/01/11/these-were-the-most-relevant-article-of-2018-in-the-field-of-coronary-diseases/" title="Read more" >...</a>
1- New High Blood Pressure Guidelines The wait is finally over: the high blood pressure guidelines that have been in the works for the past 3 years saw the light of day at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2017 Scientific Sessions. Read more 2- The 10 Commandments of ESC’s New STEMI Guidelines The authors<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/01/08/the-10-most-consulted-articles-at-solaci-during-2018/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Approximately 10% of patients who undergo transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are readmitted for an acute coronary syndrome after a mean follow-up of 25 months. Male sex, prior coronary artery disease, and (surprisingly and hard to explain) nontransfemoral approach were independent predictors of acute coronary syndrome after TAVR, an event associated with high midterm mortality. While<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/01/04/acute-coronary-syndromes-after-tavr-frequent-and-not-all-undergo-coronary-angiography/" title="Read more" >...</a>
1- Everolimus-Eluting Stents Finally Have a Rival and Not Just a “Non-Inferior” Stent In this large randomized trial, there were significant differences as regards both target-lesion failure and target-vessel-related infarction, which persisted through a 2-year follow-up and favored treatment with an ultrathin-strut bioresorbable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (Orsiro) compared with the gold standard, a durable-polymer everolimus-eluting stent<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/01/04/the-10-most-read-articles-of-december/" title="Read more" >...</a>
The potential need for a 7-Fr guidewire, the use of several coronary guidewires and/or a kissing balloon, and the requirement of indispensable monitoring by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) have been used by some interventional cardiologists as excuses to resist radial access. In that sense, left main coronary artery angioplasty was the last stand of femoral access.<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2019/01/04/radial-access-is-always-preferred-even-for-treatment-of-the-left-main-coronary-artery/" title="Read more" >...</a>
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<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/12/14/early-strut-coverage-and-its-implications-for-dual-antiplatelet-therapy/" title="Read more" >...</a>
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<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/12/12/the-importance-of-tibial-artery-patency-in-the-rechanneling-of-the-femoral-artery/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Betablockers (BB) were the first drugs shown to effectively reduce events after acute MI. However, reperfusion and other secondary prevention drugs that came along after that have cast a shadow on betablockers’ original benefit. This study looked at betablocker discontinuation after acute MI in patients with no cardiac failure optimally treated with all recommended medication.<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/12/10/can-we-discontinue-betablockers-after-ami/" title="Read more" >...</a>
Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at hospitals without cardiovascular surgery available are at significantly higher risk. That in itself is a call for attention; however, a propensity-matched analysis shows that the short- and long-term mortality rates are similar among patients treated at hospitals with and without cardiovascular surgery backup. This debate emerged a<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/12/03/is-tavr-at-hospitals-without-backup-cardiovascular-surgery-feasible/" title="Read more" >...</a>
In this pilot study, unloading the left ventricle with the Impella CP circulatory support device and delaying angioplasty by about 30 minutes appeared to be feasible and safe in patients with acute myocardial infarction without cardiogenic shock. This work sought to test the hypothesis that the device reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury. The trial included 50 patients who had the<a href="https://solaci.org/en/2018/11/30/aha-2018-more-evidence-for-the-impella-device-but-larger-trials-are-necessary/" title="Read more" >...</a>