Angioplasty and myocardial revascularization surgery have competed over the left main coronary artery for a long time. There may be many points of view involved in the interpretation of trial outcomes. While surgeons consider the left main coronary artery to be suitable for surgery (except when faced with surgical contraindications), interventional cardiologists see the left...
Balancing Bleeding Risk vs. Thrombotic Risk to Define Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Duration
Patients who undergo complex angioplasty are at higher ischemic risk, but only benefit from extended dual antiplatelet therapy if there are no factors for high bleeding risk. These data suggest that the bleeding risk must weigh more than the ischemic risk on the determination of dual antiplatelet therapy duration. Complex angioplasty is associated with higher...
ACC 2019 | AUGUSTUS: Apixaban Plus P2Y12 Inhibitor Is the Best Combination in Atrial Fibrillation and Angioplasty
Aspirin increases bleeding with no ischemic benefit, but a trend toward more stent thrombosis with placebo warrants further studies. Patients with atrial fibrillation who receive an anticoagulant agent and coronary angioplasty with a stent, and then continue with aspirin, experience an increased risk of bleeding without any ischemic benefit whatsoever. The use of a...
ACC 2019 | SAFARI: Unexpectedly, Radial Approach Offers No Benefits In STEMI
This study was not able to show benefits in terms of mortality or bleeding when using radial vs. femoral approach in patients undergoing ST elevation myocardial Infarction. This small trial does not change things for “radialists” way past their learning curve who already feel confident with this technique. For them, there is no way back....
Transcarotid Approach for Transfemoral in TAVR
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. At present, the transfemoral is the preferred access site in TAVR, for it has been shown to present fewer complications. However, whenever not feasible, we can resort to other approaches. These include the subclavian, the transapical, the transcaval, the transaortic, and the transcarotid. This last one has been studied few...
CTO: in Radial Access with Similar Results to Femoral
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. One of the characteristics of chronic total occlusion (CTO) is the use of two access routes: femoral and radial. The radial approach is safer, but it has not been thoroughly analyzed in this type of PCI. The study looked at 3709 patients undergoing left main percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for...
Revascularization in Patients with Multivessel Disease, Diabetes, and Kidney Disease
According to this new study, in patients with coronary disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease who underwent revascularization through angioplasty or surgery, events are similar. This is one of the first studies painting the real picture for the prognosis of patients revascularized in these conditions (diabetes plus chronic kidney disease). At first sight, these...
The 10 Most Read Articles of January
1- These Were the Most Relevant Article of 2018 in the Field of Coronary Diseases Read the best articles on coronary heart disease from 2018 at solaci website. Read more 2- The 10 Commandments of ESC’s New STEMI Guidelines The authors have given an entertaining account of the most relevant points and differences between...
Long Term Effect of Low Dose Paclitaxel Coated Balloon
The beneficial effect of low dose drug coated balloons with paclitaxel is sustained in time according to this randomized study. In a nutshell, this study has shown a significant statistical difference in favor of paclitaxel coated balloons vs. conventional PCI at 2 years. The safety and efficacy of new generation low dose drug coated balloons...
Optimal Revascularization Time in Transient STEMI
Patients admitted with transient ST elevation MI and later normalize completely (symptimos disappear before being treated) are those we normally say are “undergoing a non-ST elevation MI”. This is complex, because revascularization time remains nuclear, as is whether to treat them as STEMI or non-STEMI patients. The aim of this study was to determine the...