European and American agencies (such as the Centers for Disease Control [CDC]) have begun evaluating reports on myocarditis in individuals who received one of the COVID-19 vaccines based on messenger RNA technology (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna). This possible association has not been yet established and, even if confirmed in the future, it would not undermine the...
Promising fast subcutaneous administration and a quick and potent antiplatelet effect, here comes a novel glycoprotein IIb/IIa inhibitor called RUC-4. This novel drug was tested in the CELEBRATE-02 study, presented at EuroPCR 2021 and simultaneously published in EuroIntervention. The mean platelet inhibition begins 15 minutes after injection and increases with each of the three tested doses...
The 1-month outcomes of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) followed by clopidogrel monotherapy were comparable to 12-month DAPT in patients with both simple and complex PCI. There was no significant interaction between DAPT period and procedure difficulty. This is a post hoc study of the STOPDAPT-2 that looked at the complex PCI patient subgroup. It is...
The latest figures show a lower number of emergency CABG for acute MI, and in turn increased primary PCI. The combination of surgeons not willing to take risks and interventional cardiologists empowered to treat practically any lesion has resulted in fewer patients receiving emergency CABG. Only a few years ago, interventional cardiologists at least had...
Patients with acute myocardial infarction presenting lesions in multiple vessels is not associated with reduced infarct size in non-culprit lesions, even when functionally significant. Animal models suggest brief periods of ischemia in non-infarct territories (non-culprit) might protect culprit territory thanks to remote ischemic preconditioning. This pre-conditioning, according to this perspective, would reduce reperfusion injury and...
With endovascular therapy as the standard of care in ischemic stroke and with a community of interventional cardiologists increasingly committed to assisting neurologists in providing 24/7 thrombectomy, staying informed is paramount. The number of thrombectomy attempts with retractable stent (>3) is associated with hemorrhagic transformation beyond age, baseline NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale)...
For interventional cardiologists, treating an ST-segment elevation infarction in a patient with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is challenging in many ways. Longer door-to-balloon times and higher rates of primary angioplasty failure than in the general population are translated into very high short- and mid-term mortality. This multicenter study, recently published in JACC, included 118 patients...
This is the largest study on new signs and symptoms of cardiac failure in patients after COVID-19. Even though low in prevalence, its occurrence in healthy patients with no prior risk factors is worrying. The potential for SARS-CoV 2 to directly affect the heart has been studied since the pandemic onset. These studies have shown...
Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) one month after angioplasty with Xience stent was approved in Europe for patients with high risk of bleeding. The CE Mark approval comes after studies Xience 28 and Xience 90 are published. Immediately after authorization, Abbot was fast to announce what they consider to be the shortest approved scheme with the most...
Patients receiving optimal medical treatment after MI do not seem to benefit from betablockers in the long term, provided they do not present cardiac failure or systolic function deterioration. This study looked into the cardio protection effect of betablockers (BB) after long term follow up in stable patients with no cardiac failure and a history...