Impact of intracoronary optical coherence tomography in routine clinical practice: A contemporary cohort study.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Guidelines recommend intracoronary optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess stent failure and guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) but OCT may be useful for other indications in routine clinical practice. METHODS/MATERIALS We conducted an international registry of OCT cases at two large tertiary care centers to assess clinical indications and the potential impact on decision making of OCT in clinical routine. Clinical indications, OCT findings, and their impact on interventional or medical treatment strategy were retrospectively assessed. RESULTS OCT was performed in 810 coronary angiography cases (1928 OCT-pullbacks). OCT was used for diagnostic purposes in 67% (N = 542) and OCT-guided percutaneous coronary intervention in 50% (N = 404, 136 cases with prior diagnostic indication). Most frequent indications for diagnostic OCT were culprit lesion identification in suspected ACS (29%) and stent failure assessment (28%). OCT findings in the diagnostic setting influenced patient management in 74%. OCT-guided PCIs concerned ACS patients in 45%. Among the 55% with chronic coronary syndrome, long lesions >28 mm (19%), left main PCI (16%), and bifurcation PCI with side-branch-stenting (5%) were the leading indications for PCI-guidance. Post-procedural OCT findings led to corrective measures in 52% (26% malapposition, 14% underexpansion, 6% edge dissection, 3% intrastent mass, 3% geographic plaque miss). CONCLUSIONS OCT was most frequently performed to identify culprit lesions in suspected ACS, for stent failure assessment, and PCI-guidance. OCT may impact subsequent treatment strategies in two out of three patients

Antidepressant treatment in patients following acute coronary syndromes: a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.

AIMS The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of antidepressant therapy on mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS AND RESULTS We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and performed a Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that investigated antidepressant pharmacotherapy in patients following ACS. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were repeat hospitalizations and recurrent myocardial infarctions (MIs). Ten randomized controlled trials with a total of 1935 patients qualified for inclusion. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were investigated in six, bupropion in three, and mirtazapine in one trial. Placebo was used as control in eight trials. There was no difference in all-cause mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.97, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.66-1.42] and recurrent MI (OR 0.64, 95% CrI 0.40-1.02) between patients receiving antidepressants compared with controls, whereas antidepressant therapy was associated with less repeat hospitalizations (OR 0.62, 95% CrI 0.40-0.94). In patients with ACS and concomitant depression, antidepressants reduced the odds of recurrent MI compared with usual care/placebo (OR 0.45, 95% CrI 0.25-0.81). Extended funnel plots suggest robustness of the observations. CONCLUSIONS Antidepressants in patients following ACS have no effect on mortality but reduce repeat hospitalizations; in patients with depression, there is a reduced risk of recurrent MI with antidepressant therapy

Predictors of Permanent Pacemaker Implantation in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis Undergoing TAVR A Meta-Analysis

AbstractBackgroundAtrioventricular (AV) conduction disturbances requiring permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation may complicate transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Available evidence on predictors of PPM is sparse and derived from small studies.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to provide summary effect estimates for clinically useful predictors of PPM implantation after TAVR.MethodsWe performed a systematic search for studies that reported the incidence of PPM implantation after TAVR and that provided raw data for the predictors of interest. Data on study, patient, and procedural characteristics were abstracted. Crude risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals for each predictor were calculated by use of random effects models. Stratified analyses by type of implanted valve were performed.ResultsWe obtained data from 41 studies that included 11,210 TAVR patients, of whom 17% required PPM implantation after intervention. The rate of PPM ranged from 2% to 51% in individual studies (with a median of 28% for the Medtronic CoreValve Revalving System [MCRS] and 6% for the Edwards SAPIEN valve [ESV]). The summary estimates indicated increased risk of PPM after TAVR for men (RR: 1.23; p < 0.01); for patients with first-degree AV block (RR: 1.52; p < 0.01), left anterior hemiblock (RR: 1.62; p < 0.01), or right bundle branch block (RR: 2.89; p < 0.01) at baseline; and for patients with intraprocedural AV block (RR: 3.49; p < 0.01). These variables remained significant predictors when only patients treated with the MCRS bioprosthesis were considered. The data for ESV were limited. Unadjusted estimates indicated a 2.5-fold higher risk for PPM implantation for patients who received the MCRS than for those who received the ESV.ConclusionsMale sex, baseline conduction disturbances, and intraprocedural AV block emerged as predictors of PPM implantation after TAVR. This study provides useful tools to identify high-risk patients and to guide clinical decision making before and after intervention

Effect of Timing of Staged Percutaneous Coronary Intervention on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes.

Background Complete revascularization reduces cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) and multivessel disease. The optimal time point of non-target-vessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of early (<4 weeks) versus late (≥4 weeks) staged PCI of non-target-vessels in patients with ACS scheduled for staged PCI after hospital discharge. Methods and Results All patients with ACS undergoing planned staged PCI from 2009 to 2017 at Bern University Hospital, Switzerland, were analyzed. Patients with cardiogenic shock, in-hospital staged PCI, staged cardiac surgery, and multiple staged PCIs were excluded. The primary end point was all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction and urgent premature non-target-vessel PCI. Of 8657 patients with ACS, staged revascularization was planned in 1764 patients, of whom 1432 patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria. At 1 year, there were no significant differences in the crude or adjusted rates of the primary end point (7.8% early versus 10.8% late, hazard ratio [HR], 0.72 [95% CI, 0.47-1.10], P=0.129; adjusted HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.50-1.28], P=0.346) and its individual components (all-cause death: 1.5% versus 2.9%, HR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.20-1.33], P=0.170; adjusted HR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.23-1.67], P=0.343; recurrent myocardial infarction: 4.2% versus 4.4%, HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.475-1.10], P=0.924; adjusted HR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.53-2.01], P=0.935; non-target-vessel PCI, 3.9% versus 5.7%, HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.53-1.80], P=0.928; adjusted HR, 1.19 [95% CI, 0.61-2.34], P=0.609). Conclusions In this single-center cohort study of patients with ACS scheduled to undergo staged PCI after hospital discharge, early (<4 weeks) versus late (≥4 weeks) staged PCI was associated with a similar rate of major adverse cardiac events at 1 year follow-up. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02241291