As a “friendly,” easy-to-read document, the new European guidelines on pulmonary embolism (PE) include an excellent summary chart with new and modified items (compared with the 2014 guidelines), and also some sort of final conclusion composed of crucial tips and contraindications that come in handy in case of emergency. Diagnosis stage In suspected high-risk PE,...
Alternatives for Patients Allergic to Aspirin
Intolerance to aspirin is relatively frequent and there is no other non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication to replace it. The new guidelines of chronic coronary syndromes make class IIb recommendations to use prasugrel or ticagrelor in aspirin-intolerant patients. This is not meant to replace dual antiaggregation therapy in aspirin intolerant patients, when needed; it is just a...
Chronic Coronary Syndromes Nowadays
Multiple drugs and treatment strategies have emerged in recent years to change significantly the prognosis of patients who suffer from stable chronic angina or, in terms of the latest guidelines, “chronic coronary syndromes.” This semantic change may seem of little importance, but it is intended to remind us that these are not stable patients, but...
Onyx ONE: More Options for Patients at High Risk for Bleeding
Since November 2015, when the LEADERS FREE was published in NEJM, polymer-free drug coated stents had undoubtedly been the best treatment for patients at high risk of bleeding. The benefit was owed to the safety and efficacy of the polymer-free biolimus coated stent (also called umirolimus) vs. bare metal stents in the context of just...
Repeat Revascularization Is Not Benign, at Least in Left Main Disease
After the “EXCEL scandal” at the end of last year, study investigators have been publishing explanations and sub-studies that were planned from the beginning, but which can still be interpreted as explanations. This sub-study states that revascularization was more common in the angioplasty arm, but only revascularizations performed on the target lesion, regardless of the...
The Most Read Scientific Articles of January in Solaci.org
01- Soon after the EXCEL “Scandal” the NOBLE 5-year Outcomes Come Out: Mere Coincidence? There is no such thing as coincidence, at least not for the evidence-based medical science. This is what the NOBLE 5-year outcomes, soon to be published in the Lancet, seem to say, in line with the BBC exposé of the EXCEL...
Felling Reassured with Paclitaxel Coated Devices in Peripheral Artery Disease
This big analysis shows rapid absorption of paclitaxel coated devices for PCI in femoropopliteal territory, which reassures us about its alleged association to increased mortality. In fact, survival, amputation-free survival and cardiovascular events rate resulted better with paclitaxel coated devices in the treatment of chronic limb ischemia. This study emphasizes the difference that might exist...
Drug-Coated Balloons vs. Conventional Angioplasty Below the Knee
This meta-analysis is an update on the role of drug-coated balloons in the treatment of infrapopliteal arterial disease, a difficult pathology for all strategies. The primary endpoint of this meta-analysis was treated lower limb salvage at 12 months. The secondary endpoints included survival at 12 months, amputation free survival, restenosis, and target lesion repeat revascularization rate. This...
Crest-2 Registry: Carotid PCI Presents Low Rates of Death and Stroke
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. In modern studies, carotid artery stenting (CAS) has been shown equal to surgery in terms of the composite end point of periprocedural stroke, death, acute myocardial infarction and late ipsilateral stroke. This was tested in different groups and by trained operators. In the CREST-2 Registry (C2R) 2141 patients were included,...
Angioplasty in Long Femoropopliteal Lesions Offers Reasonable Results
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Around half the treated lesions in peripheral disease are femoropopliteal lesions. Long lesions are among the challenges faced: they are associated with higher mortality and morbidity, and revascularization in that setting always entails some degree of difficulty. Nowadays, with the development of nitinol stents and more operator experience, angioplasty is becoming...