A Randomized Comparison of the Healing Response Between the Firehawk Stent and the Xience Stent in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction at 6 Months of Follow-Up (TARGET STEMI OCT China Trial): An Optical Coherence Tomography Study.

Background: The healing response of the Firehawk stent in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains unclear. Aim: We compared the vascular healing of a biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (Firehawk) vs. a durable polymer everolimus-eluting stent (Xience) at 6 months after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with STEMI. Methods: In this prospective, multicenter, randomized, non-inferiority study, patients within 12 h of STEMI onset were randomized in a ratio of 1:1 to receive Firehawk or Xience stents. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) follow-up was performed 6 months after the index procedure and assessed frame by frame. The primary endpoint was the neointimal thickness (NIT) at 6 months evaluated by OCT. The safety endpoint was target lesion failure (TLF) at 12 months. Results: The Firehawk stent was non-inferior to the Xience stent in terms of the neointimal thickness (73.03 ± 33.30 µm vs. 78.96 ± 33.29 µm; absolute difference: -5.94 [one-sided 95% lower confidence bound: -23.09]; P non-inferiority < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the Firehawk and Xience groups regarding the percentage of uncovered struts (0.55 [0.08, 1.32]% vs. 0.40 [0.21, 1.19]%, P = 0.804), the percentage of malapposed struts (0.17 [0.00, 1.52]% vs. 0.17 [0.00, 0.69]%, P = 0.662), and the healing score (1.56 [0.23, 5.74] vs. 2.12 [0.91, 3.81], P = 0.647). At 12 months, one patient in the Firehawk group experienced a clinically indicated target lesion revascularization. No other TLF events occurred in both groups. Independent risk factors of the NIT included body mass index, hyperlipidemia, B2/C lesions, thrombus G3-G5, thrombus aspiration, and postdilation pressure. Conclusion: In patients with STEMI, Firehawk was non-inferior to Xience in vascular healing at 6 months. Both stents exhibited nearly complete strut coverage, moderate neointimal formation, and minimal strut malapposition. Clinical Trial Number: NCT04150016.

The Feasibility and Long-Term Outcomes of the Crossboss/Stingray for Treating Coronary Chronic Total Occlusions Lesions with Distal Diffuse Disease Landing Zone.

BACKGROUND: The feasibility and long-term outcomes of the CrossBoss/Stingray for treating coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO) with distal diffuse disease landing zone remain unclear. METHODS: Consecutive CTO patients with distal diffuse lesions that underwent percutaneous coronary intervention by the CrossBoss/Stingray system at Xijing Hospital from April 2016 to October 2020, were included. Patients were analyzed by two groups according to the extent of stenosis in the distal landing zone: 50%-70% stenosis (moderate stenosis group) and >70% stenosis (severe stenosis group). The primary efficacy outcome was technical success, defined as the frequency of true lumen guidewire placement distal to the CTO. The composite endpoint of all-cause death, any stroke, or any revascularization was also explored. RESULTS: A total of 91 consecutive patients were included, with 32 patients in the moderate stenosis group and 59 patients in the severe stenosis group. The mean J-CTO score was 2.5 ± 1.1. The technical success rate was 79.1% (72/91) in the overall population and was similar between the 2 groups: 78.1% (25/32) and 79.7% (47/59) (p = 0.608). No coronary perforation occurred. With a median follow-up of 29 months (IQR: 53-92), the estimated rate of the composite endpoint of all-cause death, any stroke, or any revascularization was 50.4% (all-cause death: 16.6%, any stroke: 1.1%, any revascularization: 36.5%) in the overall population. No significant difference was observed in the rate of the composite endpoint between the moderate stenosis group and the severe stenosis group (45.1% vs. 54.3%, respectively, p = 0.797). CONCLUSIONS: In CTO lesions with distal diffuse disease landing zone, the technical success rates of CrossBoss/Stingray and the long-term clinical outcomes were not significantly different between the moderate stenosis group (50%-70%) and the severe stenosis group (>70%). However, the relatively high rate of long-term clinical outcomes, especially any revascularization, warrants further investigations on this indication in future studies.

Efficacy and Safety of a Polytetrafluoroethylene Membrane Wrapped a Single Layer of Sirolimus-Eluting Stent in a Porcine Coronary Perforation Model.

Background: Covered stents are effective in treating coronary artery perforation (CAP), however, the high rate of immediate device deployment failure and in-stent restenosis have limited the application of the currently covered stents. Methods: We designed a covered stent system consisting of a single layer of drug-eluting stent and a layer of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane wrapped at the outer layer of the stent. The immediate sealing effect of our novel covered stent was observed by using an Ellis type III CAP model. The device's success was defined as its ability to seal the perforation, assessed by visual estimation and final thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) 3 flow. The antiproliferative effect was evaluated in 12 swine, which were randomly assigned to treatment (sirolimus-eluting covered stents) and control (bare metal covered stents) groups. Coronary angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed at index procedure, 1- and 6-month after stent implantation. All swine were sacrificed for histopathological analyses at 6-month. Results: The device success rate was 100%. All swine were alive at 6-month follow-up. At 1-month, the treatment group had a larger minimal luminal diameter (MLD) (1.89 ± 0.29 mm vs. 0.63 ± 0.65 mm, p = 0.004) and lower late luminal loss (LLL) (0.47 ± 0.15 mm vs. 1.80 ± 0.34 mm, p < 0.001) compared with control group. At 6-month, the treatment group had a numerically higher MLD (0.94 ± 0.75 mm vs. 0.26 ± 0.46 mm; p = 0.230) and lower LLL (1.43 ± 0.85 mm vs. 2.17 ± 0.28 mm; p = 0.215) compared with control group. Histological analyses revealed the mean plaque area was lower in the treatment group (2.99 ± 0.81 mm 2 vs. 4.29 ± 0.77 mm 2 , p = 0.035) than in the control group. No in-stent thrombosis was observed in either group. Conclusions: In the porcine model of coronary perforation, the PTFE membrane wrapped sirolimus-eluting stent showed a high device success rate in sealing the perforation. The drug-eluting covered stent demonstrated a relatively sustained antiproliferative effect up to 6 months post-implantation.

Comparative Quantitative Aortographic Assessment of Regurgitation in Patients Treated With VitaFlow Transcatheter Heart Valve vs. Other Self-Expanding Systems.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the quantitative angiographic aortic regurgitation (AR) of six self-expanding valves after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). BACKGROUND: Quantitative videodensitometric aortography (LVOT-AR) is an accurate and reproducible tool for assessment of AR following TAVR. METHODS: This is a retrospective central core-lab analysis of 1,257 consecutive cine aortograms performed post-TAVR. The study included 107 final aortograms of consecutive patients who underwent TAVR with first-generation VitaFlow in four Chinese centers and 1,150 aortograms with five other transcatheter aortic valves (Evolut Pro, Evolut R, CoreValve, Venus A-Valve, and Acurate Neo). LVOT-AR analyses of these five valves were retrieved from a previously published pooled database. RESULTS: Among 172 aortograms of patients treated with VitaFlow, 107 final aortograms (62.2%) were analyzable by LVOT-AR. In this first in man eight cases necessitated a procedural valve in valve due to inappropriate TAVR positioning and severe aortic paravalvular regurgitation. In the VitaFlow group, the mean LVOT-AR of the intermediate aortograms was 7.3 ± 7.8% and the incidence of LVOT-AR >17% was 8.6%. The mean LVOT-AR of the final aortogram was 6.1 ± 6.4% in the VitaFlow group, followed by Evolut Pro (7.3 ± 6.5%), Evolut R (7.9 ± 7.4%), Venus A-valve (8.9 ± 10.0%), Acurate Neo (9.6 ± 9.2%), and lastly CoreValve (13.7 ± 10.7%) (analysis of variance p < 0.001). Post hoc 2-by-2 testing showed that CoreValve had significantly higher LVOT-AR compared with each of the other five THVs. No statistical difference in LVOT-AR was observed between VitaFlow, Evolut Pro, Evolut R, Acurate Neo, and Venus A-valves. The VitaFlow system had the lowest proportion of patients with LVOT-AR >17% (4.7%) (AR after the final aortograms), followed by Evolut Pro (5.3%), Evolut R (8.8%), Acurate Neo (11.3%), Venus A-valve (14.2%), and CoreValve (30.1%) (chi-square p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Compared to other commercially available self-expanding valves, VitaFlow seems to have a low degree of AR and a low proportion of patients with ≥moderate/severe AR as assessed by quantitative videodensitometric angiography. Once the learning phase is completed, comparisons of AR between different transcatheter heart valves should be attempted in a prospective randomized trial.

One-year clinical results of the NANO registry: A multicenter, prospective all-comers registry study in patients receiving implantation of a polymer-free sirolimus-eluting stent.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Nano+™ (Lepu Medical, Beijing, China) stent implantation in all-comer patients at the 1-year follow-up. BACKGROUND: The Nano+™ stent is a novel polymer-free sirolimus-eluting stent polymer that employs nanoporous stent surface technology to control drug-delivery. The Nano+™ stent is one of the most widely used drug-eluting stent (DES) in China. METHODS: A total of 2,481 consecutive patients were included in the multicenter and prospective NANO registry. In this study, the primary endpoint was target lesion failure (TLF) at 1-year follow-up, defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel nonfatal myocardial infarction (TV-MI), and clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). The safety endpoint was the occurrence of definite or probable stent thrombosis (ST). RESULTS: Up to 40.2% of patients presented with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). A total of 63.9% of the 2,904 lesions were American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) type B2 or C lesions. One-year follow-up data were available for 98.4% of patients. The 1-year rate of TLF was 3.1% with rates of 1.3, 1.8, and 0.4% for clinically driven TLR, cardiac death, and TV-MI, respectively. ST occurred in 0.4% of patients. Diabetes mellitus, AMI, left ventricular ejection fraction <40% and long lesions (>40 mm) were independent predictors of 1-year TLF. CONCLUSIONS: The 1-year clinical outcomes were excellent for Nano+™ polymer-free SES implantation in an all-comer patient population. Follow-up will be extended up to 5 years, to further elucidate the potential long-term clinical benefits. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT02929030.

12-Month clinical results of drug-coated balloons for de novo coronary lesion in vessels exceeding 3.0 mm.

The purpose of this observational study was to investigate the feasibility, initial safety, and efficacy of the SeQuent® Please DCB (B. Braun Melsungen, Germany) for patients with de novo coronary lesions in vessels exceeding 3.0 mm in a consecutive series of all comer percutaneous coronary intervention. A total of 120 patients (135 lesions) with de novo coronary lesions in vessels ≥ 3.0 mm treated with DCB were enrolled in this single-centre prospective observational study. The primary endpoint was target lesion failure (TLF), a composite endpoint of cardiac death, target vessel-myocardial infarction (TV-MI), and clinically driven target vessel revascularization (TLR) at 12 months. Safety endpoints included cardiac death, TV-MI, and definite target vessel thrombosis. 45.9% of the lesions were classified as complex (type B2/C). The reference vessel diameter was 3.09 ± 0.31 mm measured via quantitative coronary angiography analysis. Coronary dissections occurred in 42 patients (35.0%; Type A-B 14.1%; Type C 19.1%; Type D: 1.6%), two of which [1.6%; (type D dissection)] underwent bail-out stent implantation. 12-month follow-up was completed in 100% patients. The 12-month incidence of TLF was 3.4%. The clinically driven TLR occurred in four patients (3.4%). The incidence of TLR was low in patients without any detectable dissections, similar to those with dissections (3.8% vs. 2.5%; p = 0.146). No patient suffered cardiac death, TV-MI, or target vessel thrombosis. The study shows the feasibility, initial safety, and efficacy of coronary intervention using SeQuent® Please DCB for the treatment of patients with de novo lesion in vessels exceeding 3 mm. The study highlights that the coronary dissection (Type A-C) post DCB treatment occurs frequently but is safe at follow up.