Expert Consensus on Sizing and Positioning of SAPIEN 3/Ultra in Bicuspid Aortic Valves

Vàlvula aòrtica bicúspide; Talla del bicúspide; SAPIEN 3/UltraVálvula aórtica bicúspide; Talla del bicúspide; SAPIEN 3/UltraBicuspid aortic valve; Bicuspid sizing; SAPIEN 3/UltraSevere aortic stenosis patients with bicuspid anatomy have been excluded from the major transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI) randomized clinical trials. As a result, there is no official recommendation on bicuspid TAVI. A panel of bicuspid experts was created to fill this gap. In this consensus statement, an algorithm is proposed to guide the choice of surgery or TAVI within this complex patient population, depending on aortic dilatation, age, surgical risk score, and anatomy. A step-by-step guide for sizing and positioning of the SAPIEN 3/Ultra TAVI bioprostheses is presented. Annular sizing remains the primary strategy in most bicuspid patients. However, some anatomies may require sizing at the supra-annular level, for which patients the panel recommends the circle method, a dedicated sizing and positioning approach for SAPIEN 3/Ultra. The consensus provides valuable pre-operative insights on the interactions between SAPIEN 3/Ultra and the bicuspid anatomy; understanding the valve–anatomy relationship is critical to avoid complications and to optimize outcomes for patients.The journal’s Rapid Service Fee was supported by Edwards Lifesciences

Quality of life after transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement using the Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire

Malalties aòrtiques; Pròtesi de vàlvula cardíaca; Qualitat de l'assistència sanitàriaEnfermedades aórticas; Prótesis de válvula cardíaca; Calidad de la asistencia sanitariaAortic diseases; Heart valve prosthesis; Quality of healthcareBackground The Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (TASQ) is a validated instrument for assessing quality of life (QoL) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). In this study, we evaluated health status outcomes, based on the TASQ, in patients with severe AS undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods The TASQ registry was a prospective observational registry. Patients with severe AS from nine centres in Europe and one in Canada underwent either SAVR or transfemoral TAVR. Patients completed the TASQ, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and Short Form-12 V.2 prior to the intervention, predischarge, and at 30-day and 3-month follow-ups. Primary end point was the TASQ score. Results In both the TAVR (n=137) and SAVR (n=137) cohorts, significant increases were observed in all three scores. The overall TASQ score improved as did all but one of the individual domains at 3 months after the intervention (p<0.001). TASQ health expectations were the only domain which worsened (p<0.001). Across TASQ subscores, significant changes were evident from the time of discharge in the TAVR and 30-day follow-up in the SAVR cohort. In a categorical analysis of the TASQ, 39.7% of the TAVR group and 35.0% of the SAVR group had a substantially improved health status at 3 months compared with baseline. Conclusions The TASQ captured changes in QoL among patients with severe AS who were treated with TAVR or SAVR. QoL improved substantially after either intervention, as indicated by changes in the TASQ overall score at 3 months.This work was supported by a research grant provided by Edwards Lifesciences (Nyon, Switzerland) to the Institute for Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine (Cloppenburg, Germany)

Very long-term efficacy and safety of paclitaxel-eluting balloon after a bare-metal stent for the treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction: 8-year results of a randomized clinical trial (PEBSI study)

Drug-eluting stents; Drug-coated balloons; Myocardial infarctionStents alliberadors de fàrmacs; Globus recoberts de fàrmacs; Infart de miocardiStents liberadores de fármacos; Globos recubiertos de fármacos; Infarto de miocardioBackground: Drug-eluting stents (DES) are considered the therapy of choice in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI); however, a low persistent rate of revascularizations and stent thrombosis exist over the time. We have previously shown that a paclitaxel (PTX)-drug-coated balloon (DCB) after a bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation (DCB-combined strategy) yields superior angiographic and clinical results compared to BMS in the short term. However, the long-term safety and efficacy of this approach remain uncertain. Methods: An 8-year clinical follow-up was conducted on patients enrolled in the randomized PEBSI-1 trial (NCT01839890). The original trial included patients who suffered a STEMI, patients were randomly assigned to receive a DCB-combined strategy or BMS only and the primary endpoint was in-stent late luminal loss (LLL) at 9-month follow-up. After the completion of this study, death, myocardial re-infarction, ischemia-driven repeated revascularizations included target lesion revascularization (TLR) and target vessel revascularization (TVR), and stent thrombosis, were assessed by yearly contact by a clinical visit, telephone or by electronic records. These outcomes were adhered to ARC-2 criteria. Results: The rate of incomplete follow-up was very low, with only 3 out of 111 patients (2.7%) in the DCB-combined strategy group and 1 out of 112 patients (0.9%) in the BMS group. At 8 years there were a lower rate of TVR [3.7% vs. 14.3%; hazard ratio (HR): 0.243; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.081–0.727; P=0.006], and a trend towards lower TLR (2.8% vs. 8.9%; HR: 0.300; 95% CI: 0.083–1.090; P=0.052) in the DCB-combined strategy group. No statistical difference between the DCB-combined strategy and BMS groups were found for all causes of death, deaths from cardiovascular disease, reinfarctions or stent thrombosis. Notably in the DCB-combined strategy group, no episode of stent thrombosis occurred after the first year. Similarly, there were no cardiovascular deaths, TVR and TLR in the DCB-combined strategy group after 5 years. In contrast, during the period from year 5 to 8, the BMS group experienced an additional cardiovascular death, as well as one case of TVR, one case of TLR, and one case of stent thrombosis. Conclusions: In STEMI patients, the DCB-combined strategy maintains its safety and clinical efficacy over time. Our rates of TVR, TLR, and very late stent thrombosis (VLST) at very long-term are the lowest ever found in a STEMI trial. Further studies are warranted to assess the potential superiority of this novel strategy as compared with new-generation DES to prevent very late events in these patients. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; identifier: NCT01839890.This investigation has received the support of the Spanish Clinical Research Network (SCReN), financed by the ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación, under the project PT13/0002/0005 (Plan Estatal de I+D+I 2013-2016) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). An unrestricted research grant was received from Biotronik

Trial protocol for the validation of the 'Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life (TASQ) Questionnaire' in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transfemoral (TF) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI): the TASQ registry

Aortic stenosis; Aortic valve replacement; Quality of lifeEstenosi aòrtica; Reemplaçament de la vàlvula aòrtica; Qualitat de vidaEstenosis aórtica; Reemplazo de la válvula aórtica; Calidad de vidaPatients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) have a reduced life expectancy and quality of life (QoL), owing to advanced age and the presence of multiple comorbidities. Currently, there is no AS-specific QoL measurement tool, which prevents an accurate assessment of how this chronic condition and its treatment affect patients. The Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (TASQ) was developed in order to address this deficiency. METHODS: The present trial protocol was designed to enable validation of the TASQ, which has been produced in five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) to increase usability. Patients with severe AS who are undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) will be asked to complete the TASQ and, for comparative purposes, the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and the general health-related QoL Short Form-12 questionnaire. The questionnaires will be completed prior to the intervention, at discharge, as well as at 30 days and 3 months follow-up. A total of 290 patients will be recruited across one Canadian and nine European centres. Overall, the protocol validation aims to include 120 patients undergoing transfemoral TAVI (TF-TAVI), 120 undergoing SAVR and up to 50 being treated medically. The primary objective of the registry is to validate the TASQ in five different languages. The secondary objective is to assess the utility of the TASQ for assessing differences in QoL outcome between patients undergoing TF-TAVI, SAVR or medical management for their AS. DISCUSSION: Validation and roll-out of the TASQ will enable clinicians to capture an accurate assessment of how AS and its management affects the QoL of patients and will help them to determine the most appropriate treatment strategy for individual patients.A research grant provided by Edwards Lifesciences (Nyon, Switzerland) to the Institute for Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine (Cloppenburg, Germany)

Impact of Morbid Obesity and Obesity Phenotype on Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Teixit adipós epicàrdic; Obesitat mòrbida; Teixit adipós subcutaniTejido adiposo epicárdico; Obesidad mórbida; Tejido adiposo subcutáneoEpicardial adipose tissue; Morbid obesity; Subcutaneous adipose tissueBackground There is a paucity of outcome data on patients who are morbidly obese (MO) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. We aimed to determine their periprocedural and midterm outcomes and investigate the impact of obesity phenotype. Methods and Results Consecutive patients who are MO (body mass index, ≥40 kg/m2, or ≥35 kg/m2 with obesity‐related comorbidities; n=910) with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement in 18 tertiary hospitals were compared with a nonobese cohort (body mass index, 18.5–29.9 kg/m2, n=2264). Propensity‐score matching resulted in 770 pairs. Pre–transcatheter aortic valve replacement computed tomography scans were centrally analyzed to assess adipose tissue distribution; epicardial, abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat. Major vascular complications were more common (6.6% versus 4.3%; P=0.043) and device success was less frequent (84.4% versus 88.1%; P=0.038) in the MO group. Freedom from all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality were similar at 2 years (79.4 versus 80.6%, P=0.731; and 88.7 versus 87.4%, P=0.699; MO and nonobese, respectively). Multivariable analysis identified baseline glomerular filtration rate and nontransfemoral access as independent predictors of 2‐year mortality in the MO group. An adverse MO phenotype with an abdominal visceral adipose tissue:subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio ≥1 (VAT:SAT) was associated with increased 2‐year all‐cause (hazard ratio [HR], 3.06; 95% CI, 1.20–7.77; P=0.019) and cardiovascular (hazard ratio, 4.11; 95% CI, 1.06–15.90; P=0.041) mortality, and readmissions (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.07–3.07; P=0.027). After multivariable analysis, a (VAT:SAT) ratio ≥1 remained a strong predictor of 2‐year mortality (hazard ratio, 2.78; P=0.035). Conclusions Transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients who are MO has similar short‐ and midterm outcomes to nonobese patients, despite higher major vascular complications and lower device success. An abdominal VAT:SAT ratio ≥1 identifies an obesity phenotype at higher risk of adverse clinical outcomes.This study was supported by Fundación Interhospitalaria para la Investigación Cardiovascular (FIC Foundation) via an unrestricted grant from Abbott

Coste-efectividad del implante percutáneo de válvula aórtica con SAPIEN 3 en pacientes con bajo riesgo de mortalidad quirúrgica en España

España; Prótesis valvular cardiaca; Coste-efectividadSpain; Prosthetic heart valve; Cost-effectiveness analisyEspanya; Pròtesis valvular cardíaca; Cost-efectivitatIntroduction and objectives: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) was first introduced in 2007 as an alternative to open heart surgery to treat patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (sSAS) with various indication expansions since that date. Recently, the PARTNER 3 study (Placement of aortic transcatheter valve) demonstrated clinical benefits with TAVI with the SAPIEN 3 valve vs surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in selected low surgical mortality risk patients. We reviewed data from the PARTNER 3 and economic data from Spain to assess the cost-effectiveness ratio of TAVI vs SAVR in patients with sSAS and low surgical mortality risk. Methods: A 2-stage model was used to estimate direct healthcare costs and health-related quality of life data regarding TAVI with the SAPIEN 3 valve and SAVR. Early adverse events associated with TAVI from the PARTNER 3 were fed into a Markov model that captured longer-term outcomes after TAVI or SAVR. Results: TAVI with SAPIEN 3 improved quality-adjusted life years per patient (+ 1.00) with an increase in costs vs SAVR (€6971 per patient). This meant an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio/quality-adjusted life year of €6952 per patient. The results were robust with TAVI with the SAPIEN 3 valve remaining cost-effective across several sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: TAVI with the SAPIEN 3 valve is cost effective compared to SAVR in patients with sSAS and low surgical mortality risk. These findings can inform policymakers to facilitate policy development in Spain on intervention selection in this patient population.Introducción y objetivos: El implante percutáneo de válvula aórtica (TAVI) se introdujo en 2007 como una alternativa a la cirugía a corazón abierto para tratar a pacientes con estenosis aórtica grave sintomática, y desde entonces han aumentado las indicaciones autorizadas. Recientemente, el Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valve Study (PARTNER) 3 ha demostrado beneficios clínicos con el TAVI con la válvula SAPIEN 3 frente al reemplazo quirúrgico de válvula aórtica (RVAo) en pacientes seleccionados con bajo riesgo de mortalidad quirúrgica. Utilizando los datos del PARTNER 3 junto con datos económicos de España, se evaluó la relación coste-efectividad del TAVI en comparación con el RVAo en pacientes con estenosis aórtica grave sintomática con bajo riesgo de mortalidad quirúrgica. Métodos: Se utilizó un modelo en dos etapas para estimar los costes directos sanitarios y los datos de calidad de vida relacionados con la salud para TAVI con la válvula SAPIEN 3 y RVAo. Los eventos adversos tempranos relacionados con TAVI del PARTNER 3 se incluyeron en un modelo de Markov, que capturó los resultados a más largo plazo tras TAVI o RVAo. Resultados: El TAVI con SAPIEN 3 mejoró los años de vida ajustados por calidad por paciente (+1,00), con un aumento en el coste frente al RVAo de 6.971 € por paciente. Esto representó una ratio coste-efectividad incremental por año de vida ganado ajustado por calidad de 6.952€ por paciente. Los resultados fueron robustos en los diversos análisis de sensibilidad realizados, en los que el TAVI con SAPIEN 3 se mantiene como una opción coste-efectiva. Conclusiones: El TAVI con SAPIEN 3 es coste-efectivo en comparación con el RVAo en pacientes con estenosis aórtica grave sintomática con bajo riesgo de mortalidad quirúrgica. Estos resultados pueden informar a los decisores políticos en España para facilitar el desarrollo de políticas sobre la selección de opciones terapéuticas en esta población de pacientes. Palabras clave: España. Implante percutáneo de válvula aórtica. Cirugía cardiaca. Prótesis valvular cardiaca. Reemplazo quirúrgico de válvula aórtica. Análisis coste-beneficio. Análisis coste-efectividad. Estenosis aórtica. Bajo riesgo.Edwards Lifesciences SA, Switzerland provided funding for the economic assessment and was involved in the analysis as well as in the drafting of this manuscript

Impact of triple therapy in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Background and Purpose: Selecting an ideal antithrombotic therapy for elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be challenging since they have a higher thromboembolic and bleeding risk than younger patients. The current study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of triple therapy (TT: oral anticoagulation plus dual antiplate- let therapy: aspirin plus clopidogrel) in patients > 75 years of age with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A prospective multicenter study was conducted from 2003 to 2012 at 6 Spanish teaching hospitals. A cohort study of consecutive patients with AF undergoing PCI and treated with TT or dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) was analyzed. All outcomes were evaluated at 1- year of follow-up. Results: Five hundred and eighty-five patients, 289 (49%) of whom were > 75 years of age (79.6 ± 3.4 years; 33% women) were identified. TT was prescribed in 55.9% of patients at discharge who had a higher thromboembolic risk (CHA 2 DS 2 VASc score: 4.23 ± 1.51 vs 3.76 ± 1.40, p = 0.007 and a higher bleeding risk (HAS-BLED > 3: 88.6% vs 79.2%, p = 0.02) than those on DAPT. Therefore, patients on TT had a lower rate of thromboembolism than those on DAPT (0.6% vs 6.9%, p = 0.004; HR 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.70, p = 0.004). Major bleeding events occurred more frequently in patients on TT than in those on DAPT (11.7% vs 2.4%, p = 0.002; HR 5.2, 95% CI: 1.53 - 17.57, p = 0.008). The overall mortality rate was similar in both treatment groups (11.9% vs 13.9%, p = 0.38); however, after adjustment for confounding variables, TT was associated with a reduced mortality rate (HR 0.33, 95% CI: 0.12 - 0.86, p = 0.02). Conclusions In elderly patients with AF undergoing PCI, the use of TT compared to DAPT was associ- ated with reduced thromboembolism and mortality rates, although a higher rate of major bleeding

Induction of Lysosome Membrane Permeabilization as a Therapeutic Strategy to Target Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells

Despite significant efforts to improve pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) clinical outcomes, overall survival remains dismal. The poor response to current therapies is partly due to the existence of pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs), which are efficient drivers of PDAC tumorigenesis, metastasis and relapse. To find new therapeutic agents that could efficiently kill PaCSCs, we screened a chemical library of 680 compounds for candidate small molecules with anti-CSC activity, and identified two compounds of a specific chemical series with potent activity in vitro and in vivo against patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cultures. The anti-CSC mechanism of action of this specific chemical series was found to rely on induction of lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP), which is likely associated with the increased lysosomal mass observed in PaCSCs. Using the well characterized LMP-inducer siramesine as a tool molecule, we show elimination of the PaCSC population in mice implanted with tumors from two PDX models. Collectively, our approach identified lysosomal disruption as a promising anti-CSC therapeutic strategy for PDAC