With the remarkable drop in tobacco use across the world, also dropped mortality associated to abdominal aorta aneurysm rupture (AAA). All AAA screening programs have been designed decades ago, when the risk was higher. This is why we might need to rethink these programs, or at least design new randomized controlled studies to pave the...
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using the ACURATE neo device depends, largely, on correct patient selection and appropriate oversizing. The individual anatomy of each patient, namely periannular and aortic root calcification, must be taken into account. The ACURATE neo valve (Symetis/Boston, Ecublens, Switzerland) is a new-generation self-expanding valve characterized by a stent design shaped as an X...
For patients undergoing transradial catheterization, whether puncture site compression is manual or mechanical has no significant difference as regards post procedural radial artery occlusion (RAO) rate. Hemostasis is shorter with manual compression, but it seems difficult to implement in the clinical practice. We could carry out an economical sub-analyzis of this study to find out...
A new edition of EuroPCR has come and gone. Now is the time to make a balance and review the main presentations at one of the most important European congresses on cardiovascular interventions. Thus, we have selected the six most relevant studies presented at the event. In our opinion, you cannot afford to miss them!...
A year after the implantation of everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold Absorb 1.1, optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans showed neointima formation covering plaque without significant luminal loss. At 5 years, the device is supposed to disappear completely, potentially thrombogenic plaque components are supposed to be covered by endothelium, and the vasomotor function is supposed to be recovered. However, there...
First generation TAVR procedures performed on patients with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis have rendered suboptimal outcomes. In addition, studies on new generation devices, such as the SAPIEN 3, have systematically excluded these patients from their protocols. Therefore, we are missing information about TAVR on bicuspid aortic valve stenosis patients. This study compared SAPIEN 3 TAVR...
After several trials with neutral outcomes, renal denervation had been demoted for some time. However, this new study presented at EuroPCR 2018 and simultaneously published in the LANCET brings back the technique with improved devices that seem to yield improved outcomes. The study included patients with uncontrolled arterial hypertension under medical treatment. Eligible patients...
Should the Antithrombotic/antiplatelet therapy following 10.0 by 60 mm stent implantation to the subclavian vein of a chronic kidney patient be the same as one following a 3.0 by 18 mm stent implantation to the second segment of the left anterior descending artery of this same patient? The daily practice of many interventional cardiologists performing...
Hybrid revascularization seems to achieve results similar to those of conventional myocardial revascularization surgery at 5 years, although studies published so far do not seem to be enough for a definitive answer. This new work, soon to be published in J Am Coll Cardiol Intv, has had promising results in selected patients with multivessel disease; however,...
All interventional cardiologists must be able to perform a pericardiocentesis. Whether we deal with a chronic total occlusion, a supposedly simple coronary angioplasty (we all have witnessed the perforation of a supposedly risk-free coronary artery), or a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (whose rise gave us another significant source of tamponades), we must all be ready...