Difficult to treat, tricuspid valve failure poses great medical challenge. In addition, the mortality rate of surgical treatment these days is not exactly low, involving high risk, which often takes this alternative off the table. Several percutaneous devices have been developed to treat this disease, the most popular being edge-to-edge devices. The TRICENTO has an...
REVERSE-IT | Bentracimab: Progress on the Antidote for Ticagrelor in Emergency Scenarios
Optimizing an antiplatelet therapy after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) aims at reducing the major adverse cardiac events (MACE) caused by atherosclerotic disease. Ticagrelor is a potent P2Y12 inhibitor that directly prevents platelet activation. It is characterized by a rapid and consistent onset of action throughout its administration (twice daily) and its proven pleiotropic effects,...
Abbreviated DAPT in ACS: The End of Clopidogrel Monotherapy?
Compared with patients with chronic coronary syndromes, patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are more likely to suffer from long term major adverse cardiac events (MACE). To prevent this, both the American and the European guidelines recommend prolonging dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in this population for at least 12 months. However, in patients with certain clinical...
Sorrow for the Loss of Dr. Sousa
On behalf of the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology (SOLACI), We extend our deepest condolences for the departure of our esteemed professor Doctor José Eduardo Morais Rego Sousa, renowned hemodynamist and interventional cardiologist, former Director of the Institute of Cardiology Dante Pazzanese, the Brazilian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SBHCI) and a pillar in the...
Acute Coronary Syndrome: What Is Safer, Antiaggregant Monotherapy or De-Escalation?
For several years it has been shown that 12-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is mandatory for patients undergoing left main PCI for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, though this strategy does reduce thrombotic events and mortality, it also causes undesirable bleeding events followed by hospitalization and antiaggregation interruption for a period of time. A feasible...
IVUS in Acute Coronary Syndrome: A New Requirement?
The use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has seen exponential growth across registries over the years, combined with mounting and increasingly robust evidence. The fact that it will enable us to characterize plaque morphology and extension prior the intervention, and even assess stent expansion post intervention, has turned it into a pillar of our efforts to...
Infective Endocarditis in TAVR: What’s the Best Treatment?
Infective Endocarditis (IE) rate after TAVR ranges from 0.7% to 3.4%, depending on the different analyses, and is comparable to that after SAVR. Close to 50% of patients treated with surgery received a prosthetic valve; in TAVR, the figure is lower, possibly due to the characteristics of patients (even though it remains unclear). Researchers looked...
Cangrelor: Additional Research Findings Not Translating into Clinical Practice
The potent and fast endovenous platelet inhibition provided by Cangrelor reduces ischemic events early in the course of acute coronary syndrome. However, and despite mounting evidence, the drug is not reaching the clinical practice. This is a sub-analysis of the CHAMPION PHOENIX, which sought the timing, number and type of early events that could be...
Clnical Practice Dissociated from Study Outcomes: Bad News for Our Patients?
Differences in patient characteristics, changes in treatment algorithms, and advances in device technology, together or separately, might limit the applicability of older randomized trials to contemporary clinical practice. In this case, we look at patients and devices used in the contemporary clinical practice vs. those in the EXTEND DAPT. These differences were associated with attenuated...
Melody: One of the Pioneers in Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement with Long Term Outcomes
At 10 years of the Melody Investigational Device Exemption we can observe this device for transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement might be a lifetime fix, both to extend the useful life of previously implanted right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) conduits or bioprosthetic pulmonary valves. Patient enrollment for the US Investigational Device Exemption study of the Melody...