Case Report: Coronaro-bronchial fistula vascularizing a squamous cell lung cancer.

Coronary fistulas are rare, having been described for the first time by Krauss in 1865 in postmortem. They are commonly asymptomatic and can be caused by congenital or acquired malformations. We present the case of a 65-year-old patient who was treated for squamous cell lung cancer with chemoimmunotherapy and presented with angina. The coronary angiography showed a coronaro-bronchial fistula that arises from a branch of the right coronary artery and is associated with lung cancer.

Vascular Complications Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, Using MANTA (Collagen Plug-Based) versus PROSTAR (Suture-Based), from a French Single-Center Retrospective Registry.

TAVI requires a large-bore arteriotomy. Closure is usually performed by the suture system. Some studies report a vascular complication rate of up to 21%. MANTA is a recently developed percutaneous closure system dedicated to large caliber vessels based on an anchoring system. Early studies report a lower rate of vascular complications with MANTA devices. This single-center retrospective study included all patients who underwent femoral TAVI at the Brest University Hospital from 20 November 2019 to 31 March 2021. The primary endpoint is the rate of vascular complications (major and minor) pre and post-TAVI procedure. In total, 264 patients were included. There were no significant differences in vascular complications (major and minor) between the two groups (13.6% in the MANTA group versus 21.2% in the PROSTAR group; p = 0.105), although there was a tendency to have fewer minor vascular complications in the Manta group (12.1% versus 20.5%; p = 0.067). Manta was associated with a lower rate of bleeding complications (3.8% versus 15.2%; p = 0.002), predominantly minor complications with fewer closure failures (4.5% versus 13.6%; p = 0.01), less use of covered stents (4.5% versus 12.9%; p = 0.016), and with no difference in the need for vascular surgery compared to the Prostar group (1.5% versus 2.3%; p = 0.652). On the other hand, Manta was associated with a higher rate of femoral stenosis (4.5% versus 0%; p = 0.013) without clinical significance (1.5% versus 0%; p = 0.156). The Manta and Prostar devices are equivalent in terms of vascular complications. The Manta, compared to the Prostar, is associated with fewer bleeding complications.

Early and late ventricular arrhythmias complicating ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular arrhythmias can be life-threatening complications of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). AIMS: To describe the incidence, predictors and in-hospital impact of early ventricular arrhythmia (EVA, occurring

Current treatment of symptomatic aortic stenosis in elderly patients: Do risk scores really matter after 80 years of age?

BACKGROUND: According to the guidelines, surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) is recommended in patients at low surgical risk (EuroSCORE II<4%), whereas for other patients, the decision between transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgery should be made by the Heart Team, with TAVI being favoured in elderly patients. AIM: The RAC prospective multicentre survey assessed the respective contributions of age and surgical risk scores in therapeutic decision making in elderly patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. METHODS: In September and October 2016, 1049 consecutive patients aged ≥ 75 years were included in 32 centres with on-site TAVI and surgical facilities. The primary endpoint was the decision between medical management, TAVI or SAVR. RESULTS: Mean age was 84±5 years and 53% of patients were female. The surgical risk was classified as high (EuroSCORE II>8%) in 18% of patients, intermediate (EuroSCORE II 4-8%) in 34% and low (EuroSCORE II≤4%) in 48%. TAVI was preferred in 71% of patients, SAVR in 19% and medical treatment in 10%. The choice of TAVI over SAVR was associated with older age (P<0.0001) and a higher EuroSCORE II (P=0.008). However, the weight of EuroSCORE II in therapeutic decision making markedly decreased after the age of 80 years. Indeed, 77% of patients aged ≥ 80 years were referred for TAVI, despite a low estimated surgical risk. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of risk scores depends strongly on age, and decreases considerably after 80 years, most patients being referred for TAVI, independent of their estimated surgical risk. Despite medical advancements, 10% of patients were still denied any intervention.

Analysis of weather exposure 7 days before occurrence of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have highlighted the relationship between weather patterns and the occurrence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). AIM: To evaluate the statistical association between the occurrence of STEMI and meteorological variables over the preceding 7 days. METHODS: This was a retrospective study, using prespecified data from the ORBI (Breton Regional Observatory on Myocardial Infarction) registry, which includes all consecutive patients hospitalized for STEMI in the geographical area of Brest, France. Over a 7-year period, we compared the number of STEMIs per week with the mean values of meteorological variables over the preceding 7 days. RESULTS: Overall, 7517 patients with STEMI were recorded in the ORBI registry between January 2009 and January 2016. After exclusion of patients not living in the geographical area of interest, 742 patients were included. The weekly incidence of STEMI ranged from 0 to 7 (median 2, interquartile range 1-3). In the univariate analysis, air temperature (odds ratio [OR] 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.005-1.01 per 1°C decrease; P=0.03) and atmospheric pressure (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.06 per 1 hPa increase; P=0.008) were associated with the weekly incidence of STEMI. In the multivariable analysis, air temperature (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.10 per 1°C decrease; P=0.01), atmospheric pressure (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08 per 1 hPa increase; P<0.001) and duration of humidity>80% (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.15 per 1hour increase; P=0.007) in the previous 7 days were associated with the occurrence of STEMI. CONCLUSIONS: In this specific geographical area, occurrence of STEMI was statistically associated with a decrease in air temperature, an increase in atmospheric pressure and an increase in humidity over the preceding 7-day period.

In vivo validation of Dosemap software use in interventional cardiology with dosimetrics indicators and peak skin dose evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of DoseMap™ software as compared to gafchromic film in real clinical practices. BACKGROUND: The radiation exposure from cardiovascular procedures could expose patients to potential risk of cancer and/or skin injury. New tools like Dosemap software were developed to estimate the patient skin dose in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. However, little data are available to validate this estimation of patient radiation skin dose. METHODS: This is a prospective cross-sectional study comparing the peak skin dose (PSD) measured by gafchromic film used as reference with an estimated PSD given by Dosemap software, in patients with BMI > 30 kg/m2 undergoing elective diagnostic and/or therapeutic interventional cardiology procedures, from April 2016 to December 2016, at the Brest University Hospital Centre, France. RESULTS: After four exclusions of patients for poor quality of gafchromic films, 90 patients were included, with 58 angiography (67.4%), 14 percutaneous interventions (16.3%), and 14 both (16.3%). The median PSDDosemap and PSDFilm were similar with 157 mGy [IQR: 99; 273] versus 158 mGy [IQR: 101; 295] (P = 0.65), respectively, with an excellent correlation (r = 0.95). The comparison between cumulative air kerma and PSDFilm was different 366 mGy [IQR: 246; 575] versus 158 mGy [IQR: 101; 295] (P < 0.01) with moderate correlation (r = 0.79). No correlation was found between the dose area product and PSDFilm (r = 0.51). CONCLUSION: DoseMap is an effective and valid method as compared to gafchromic films to estimate PSDs during interventional cardiologic procedures.

Comparison of four methods to assess high-on platelet reactivity under P2Y12 receptor inhibitor.

P2Y12 receptor inhibitors are antiplatelet agents commonly prescribed in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Their efficacy can be limited by high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR), which can be evaluated by different biological assays. Most commonly, HPR is evaluated by flow cytometric vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein-phosphorylation (VASP-P) assay, which can be time consuming. To evaluate the potential interest of novel technologies, we compared four different assays. Ninety patients receiving P2Y12 inhibitors were included. Four technologies were evaluated: the current standard test measuring VASP-P by flow cytometry, the historical reference test based on light transmittance aggregation (LTA), and two relatively novel techniques: whole blood multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA) and platelet function analyzer (PFA), which are less time consuming. The three latter tests were compared with the VASP-P assay as a reference using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis: LTA has an excellent comparability with the VASP test (ROC AUC > 0.9); the other two tests (multiplate and PFA) have only satisfactory comparability (ROC AUC around 0.7) and therefore may not replace the VASP "gold standard" test, if importance is attached to a quantitative assessment of the substitution parameter of VASP. Nevertheless, if a binary approach of the anti-aggregation result is sought, then one can conclude that the three tests are equivalent since Cohen's kappa coefficients are very close for the three tests (k = 0.548 for LTA; k = 0.554 for MEA; k = 0.570 for PFA/P2Y), and a similar proportion of patients are misclassified (15% for LTA, 14% for MEA, and 13.6% for PFA). Discriminant factor analysis using all the parameters provided by each test did not improve the diagnostic performance of MEA or PFA. In conclusion, only LTA shows a good comparability to the VASP assay using ROC curve analysis, probably because misclassified patients have results close to the cutoff values. All three tests have moderate agreement regarding the classification of patients as responders to P2Y12 inhibition.

The utilisation of the cardiovascular automated radiation reduction X-ray system (CARS) in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory aids in the reduction of the patient radiation dose.

AIMS: The radiation exposure resulting from cardiovascular procedures may increase the risk of cancer, and/or cause skin injury. Whether the novel cardiovascular automated radiation reduction X-ray system (CARS) can help reduce the patient radiation dose in daily clinical practice remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction in patient radiation dose with the use of CARS in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory (CCL). METHODS AND RESULTS: This study retrospectively analysed 1,403 consecutives patients who underwent a cardiac catheterisation with coronary angiography (CA) and/or a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Brest University Hospital over the course of one year. Patient radiation doses (dose area product and air kerma) were collected and compared between the CCL with (new CCL) and without (control CCL) CARS. Additionally, the patient radiation doses according to femoral versus radial access, procedural complexity and body mass index were compared. The radiation lesion position on the skin was assessed by automatically optimising the X-ray source to image distance (SID) and subsequently generating a radiation Dose-Map for those procedures exceeding 3 Gray of exposure. Overall, 447 patients underwent procedures in the control CCL and 956 in the new CCL. Baseline patient and procedural characteristics were similar between the two groups, with the exception of male gender and primary PCI, which were more prevalent in the new CCL group. Compared to the control CCL, the utilisation of the CARS in the new CCL resulted in a reduction of dose area product by 46% for CA, 56% for PCI alone and 54% for CA and PCI during the same procedure. Of note, radial access generated a higher radiation dose than femoral access (p<0.001). In this study, seven patients had an air kerma exceeding 3 Gray; however, only one patient had a skin dose greater than 3 Gray. CONCLUSIONS: The utilisation of the CARS resulted in a significant reduction in patient radiation doses compared to the control equipment. A real-time Dose-Map may help the operator change the projection during complex procedures to reduce the patient skin dose.