Intracoronary physiology-guided percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with diabetes

Objective: The risk of vessel-oriented cardiac adverse events (VOCE) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) undergoing intracoronary physiology-guided coronary revascularization is poorly defined. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the risk of VOCE in patients with and without DM in whom percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was performed or deferred based on pressure-wire functional assessment. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of a multicenter registry of patients evaluated with fractional flow reserve (FFR) and/or non-hyperaemic pressure ratio (NHPR). Primary endpoint was a composite of VOCE including cardiac death, vessel-related myocardial infarction (MI), and ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization (TVR). Results: A large cohort of 2828 patients with 3353 coronary lesions was analysed to assess the risk of VOCE at long-term follow-up (23 [14-36] months). Non-insulin-dependent-DM (NIDDM) was not associated with the primary endpoint in the overall cohort (adjusted Hazard Ratio [aHR] 1.18, 95% CI 0.87-1.59, P = 0.276) or in patients with coronary lesions treated with PCI (aHR = 1.30, 95% CI 0.78-2.16, P = 0.314). Conversely, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) demonstrated an increased risk of VOCE in the overall cohort (aHR 1.76, 95% CI 1.07-2.91, P = 0.027), but not in coronary lesions undergoing PCI (aHR 1.26, 95% CI 0.50-3.16, P = 0.621). Importantly, in coronary lesions deferred after functional assessment IDDM (aHR 2.77, 95% CI 1.11-6.93, P = 0.029) but not NIDDM (aHR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.61-1.44, P = 0.776) was significantly associated with the risk of VOCE. IDDM caused a significant effect modification of FFR-based risk stratification (P for interaction < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, DM was not associated with an increased risk of VOCE in patients undergoing physiology-guided coronary revascularization. However, IDDM represents a phenotype at high risk of VOCE

Proof of concept study on coronary microvascular function in low flow low gradient aortic stenosis

ObjectivesWe hypothesised that low flow low gradient aortic stenosis (LFLGAS) is associated with more severe coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) compared with normal-flow high-gradient aortic stenosis (NFHGAS) and that CMD is related to reduced cardiac performance. MethodsInvasive CMD assessment was performed in 41 consecutive patients with isolated severe aortic stenosis with unobstructed coronary arteries undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR), resistive reserve ratio (RRR) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) were measured in the left anterior descending artery before and after TAVI. Speckle tracking echocardiography was performed to assess cardiac function at baseline and repeated at 6 months. ResultsIMR was significantly higher in patients with LFLGAS compared with patients with NFHGAS (24.1 (14.6 to 39.1) vs 12.8 (8.6 to 19.2), p=0.002), while RRR was significantly lower (1.4 (1.1 to 2.1) vs 2.6 (1.5 to 3.3), p=0.020). No significant differences were observed in CFR between the two groups. High IMR was associated with low stroke volume index, low cardiac output and reduced peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS). TAVI determined no significant variation in microvascular function (IMR: 16.0 (10.4 to 26.1) vs 16.6 (10.2 to 25.6), p=0.403) and in PALS (15.9 (9.9 to 26.5) vs 20.1 (12.3 to 26.7), p=0.222). Conversely, left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain increased after TAVI (-13.2 (8.4 to 16.6) vs -15.1 (9.4 to 17.8), p=0.047). In LFLGAS, LV systolic function recovered after TAVI in patients with preserved microvascular function but not in patients with CMD. ConclusionsCMD is more severe in patients with LFLGAS compared with NFHGAS and is associated with low-flow state, left atrial dysfunction and reduced cardiac performance

Incidentally Found Transient and Asymptomatic ST-Elevation: A Diagnostic Dilemma

Acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) are among the most frequent causes of hospitalization worldwide. The diagnosis of ACS is based on three main criteria: 1) chest pain; 2) electrocardiographic changes; 3) changes in markers of myocardial cytolysis. However, one or more of these features are not infrequently missing or confounding, making the diagnosis difficult. An example of this condition is the so-called “silent ischemia”. In this article we report a case of a 70-year-old man in whom transient and asymptomatic ST-elevation was incidentally recorded during hospitalization. The management of this “out of guidelines” case is discussed in light of the increasing epidemic of silent myocardial ischemia

Comparison between visual score and 3d quantitative analysis of coronary angiography MDCT. How to overcome subjectivity

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Integrated anatomical and functional approach for tailored renal interventions-in patients with resistant arterial hypertension

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Long-term variations of FFR and iFR after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Long-term variations of fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free-ratio (iFR) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have not been previously assessed. A total of 23 coronary lesions in 14 patients with aortic stenosis (AS) underwent physiology assessment at baseline, immediately after TAVI and at 14(7-29) months of follow-up. The angiographic severity of the lesions did not progress at follow-up (54[45-64] vs 54[49-63], p = .53). Overall, FFR (0.87[0.85-0.92] vs 0.88[0.82-0.92], p = .45) and iFR (0.88[0.85-0.96] vs 0.91[0.86-0.97], p = .30) did not change significantly compared with the baseline. FFR decreased in 3(13%) lesions with abnormal baseline value, whereas it remained stable in lesions with FFR > 0.80. Conversely, iFR did not show a systematic trend at long-term after TAVI. However, iFR demonstrated a higher reclassification rate at follow-up compared with FFR (p = .02). In conclusions, in this exploratory study, only minor variations of coronary physiology indices were observed at long-term after TAVI. Nevertheless, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of borderline FFR and iFR values in severe AS

Real World Performance Evaluation of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Background: The aim of this research is to describe the performance over time of transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVIs) in a high-volume center with a contemporary, real-world population. Methods: Patients referred for TAVIs at the University Hospital of Verona were prospectively enrolled. By cumulative sum failures analysis (CUSUM), procedural-control curves for standardized combined endpoints-as defined by the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 (VARC-2)-were calculated and analyzed over time. Acceptable and unacceptable limits were derived from recent studies on TAVI in intermediate and low-risk patients to fit the higher required standards for current indications. Results: A total of 910 patients were included. Baseline risk scores significantly reduced over time. Complete procedural control was obtained after approximately 125 and 190 cases for device success and early safety standardized combined endpoints, respectively. High risk patients (STS >= 8) had poorer outcomes, especially in terms of VARC-2 clinical efficacy, and required a higher case load to maintain in-control and proficient procedures. Clinically relevant single endpoints were all influenced by operator's experience as well. Conclusions: Quality-control analysis for contemporary TAVI interventions based on standardized endpoints suggests the need for relevant operator's experience to achieve and maintain optimal clinical results, especially in higher-risk subjects