It has been long since the SYNTAX (NEJM 2009) came out comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) against coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). That emblematic study associated PCI with first generation drug eluting stents (Taxus) with increased major cardiac and cerebrovascular events (all-cause mortality, AMI, stroke, or any revascularization – MACCE) vs. CABG, at 5 years,...
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to guide drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation has been evaluated in several studies. Two randomized studies, IVUS-XPL (Impact of Intravascular Ultrasound Guidance on the Outcomes of Xience Prime Stents in Long Lesions) and ULTIMATE (Intravascular Ultrasound Guided Drug Eluting Stents Implantation in All-Comers Coronary Lesions), have shown fewer repeat revascularizations compared with angiography-guided...
Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is an alternative to prevent atrial fibrillation stroke mainly used in patients at high risk for bleeding. One of the most widely used devices in randomized trials is the Watchman, which yielded promising results. However, its real-life performance had yet to be analyzed. Researchers conducted an analysis of the National...
The WOEST study found a significant reduction in bleeding complications post PCI with oral anticoagulation indication (OAC) when treating patients with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) vs. the triple antithrombotic scheme. Several randomized studies have shown these results. At present, the guidelines recommend using the triple antithrombotic scheme in patients according to ischemic and bleeding risk. ...
Coronary microvascular disfunction (CMD) is an important long-term prognosis predictor. CMD treatment can be an effective therapeutic strategy for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Nevertheless, more studies are needed to assess different strategies. In the PLATO (Study of Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes) study, ticagrelor vs. clopidogrel reduced ischemic events and overall mortality in...
FLAVOUR was a prospective randomized non-inferiority study in patients with intermediate coronary lesions (40%-70%) that compared two imaging modalities: IVUS (intravascular imaging) and FFR (fractional flow reserve). According to this research—presented at ACC 2022—, FFR-guided angioplasty was non-inferior to IVUS-guided angioplasty at 2 years of follow-up. Furthermore, using FFR-based imaging led to fewer stent implantations....
The Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology together with the Interamerican Society of Cardiology (SIAC) and the Stent-Save a Life! Initiative have developed a short survey (which can be answered in less than 5 minutes) to learn how ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes are treated in Latin America. The final objective of this survey is...
Tranexamic Acid is an antifibrinolytic which has been shown to reduce bleeding in orthopedic patients and cardiac surgery. But evidence for its use in non-cardiac surgery is still limited. The aim of this study was to assess whether tranexamic acid reduces the incidence of bleeding events, which include life threatening bleeding, major bleeding, or bleeding...
Same-day discharge (SDD) has been shown to be effective in angioplasties and some peripheral procedures, but the pandemic—because of the burden it caused on the healthcare system—has forced the optimization of hospitalization times for other pathologies and procedures. This strategy is yet to be tested in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) due to the possible...
For approximately two decades now, PCI has been the treatment of choice in femoropopliteal territory, and even though technological developments and increasing operator experience have indeed improved outcomes, IVUS (which has showed great benefits in PCI, even reducing left main mortality) is hardly used in this territory. This was a prospective randomized controlled study including...