Original title: Frecuency domain optical coherente tomography to assess non-ostial left main artery. Reference: Francesco Burzotta, et al. EuroIntervention 2015;10e1-e8 Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has proved valuable in making decisions and monitoring stents implanted in coronary arteries, but its role in the assessment of left main (LM) lesions remains unclear. The study included 54 patients presenting moderate...
Original title: Prognostic impact of clopidogrel pretreatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome managed invasively. Reference: Almendro-Delia M et al. Am J Cardiol. 2015; Epub ahead of print. This study analyzed the ARIAM data including 9621 AMI patients diagnosed with coronary angiography receiving clopidogrel in 49 center between 2002 and 2012. Most patients had STEMI (63%), and most...
Original title: Bivalirudin Versus Heparin With or Without Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors in Patients With STEMI Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Pooled Patient-Level Analysis From the HORIZONS-AMI and EUROMAX Trials. Reference: Stone GW et al. J Am CollCardiol. 2015 Jan 6;65(1):27-38. The HORIZONS-AMI (Harmonizing Outcomes with RevasculariZatiON and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction) that included 3602 STEMI patients undergoing...
Original title: Second Generation Drug-Eluting Stents Implantation Followed by Six Versus Twelve-Month – Dual Antiplatelet Therapy- The SECURITY Randomized Clinical Trial. Reference: Antonio Colombo et al. J Am CollCardiol. 2014 Nov 18;64(20):2086-97. The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after second-generation DES implantation is still debated and apparently will remain controversial for some time. The aim of this...
Original title: Hybrid Revascularization for Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease Reference: Mariuz Gassior, et al. J Am Cardiol Intv 2014;7:1277-83 According to the international guidelines, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) continues to be the “Gold Standard” treatment for multiple vessels diseases. However, second generation DES and the hybrid strategy may eventually change indications. This study randomized 102...
Original title: Reappraisal of thienopyridine pretreatment in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reference: Bellemain-Appaix A. et al. BMJ. 2014;Epub ahead of print. This meta-analysis included 7 studies that included a total 32383 patients admitted with non ST elevation ACS; 17545 (54.5%) underwent PCI. These studies were published between 2001 and 2013:...
Original title: The impact of age flow reserve-guided percutaneous coronary intervention: A FAME (Fractional Flow Reserve versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation) trial substudy. Reference: Hong-Seok Lim et al. International Journal of Cardiology 2014; 177:66-70 The FAME study has shown the benefit of FFR guided PCI, but the question as to whether age affects lesion evaluation remains unclear. A...
Original title: Long-term outcomes after stenting versus endarterectomy for treatment of symptomatic carotid stenosis: the International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS) randomised trial. Reference: Bonati LH et al. Lancet. 2014;Epub ahead of print. Carotid stenting is an alternative to endarterectomy though long term efficacy remains unknown. This study reports the long term follow up of the International Carotid...
Original title: Baseline bleeding risk and arterial access site practice in relation to procedural outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention. Presenter: Mamas A. Mamas et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;64:1554-1564. The transradial approach has been associated with reduced access site related bleeding complications as well as a reduced mortality in the context of PCI. It seems...
This study is a retrospective analysis of 2,243,209 PCI stenting procedures in the USA between 2005 and 2009. During this period, a reduction in the number of PCI procedures was observed (also observed globally) from 53 in previous years to 33 procedures per operator per year, and from 1,024 to 693 per hospital per year....