Optimizing the Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the most common procedures performed in medicine. However, its net benefit among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is less well established than in the general population. The prevalence of patients suffering from both CAD and CKD is high, and is likely to increase in the coming years. Planning the adequate management of this group of patients is crucial to improve their outcome after PCI. This starts with proper preparation before the procedure, the use of all available means to reduce contrast during the procedure, and the implementation of modern strategies such as radial access and drug-eluting stents. At the end of the procedure, personalized antithrombotic therapy for the patient's specific characteristics is advisable to account for the elevated ischemic and bleeding risk of these patients.

Fibrosis after Myocardial Infarction: An Overview on Cellular Processes, Molecular Pathways, Clinical Evaluation and Prognostic Value.

The ischemic injury caused by myocardial infarction activates a complex healing process wherein a powerful inflammatory response and a reparative phase follow and balance each other. An intricate network of mediators finely orchestrate a large variety of cellular subtypes throughout molecular signaling pathways that determine the intensity and duration of each phase. At the end of this process, the necrotic tissue is replaced with a fibrotic scar whose quality strictly depends on the delicate balance resulting from the interaction between multiple actors involved in fibrogenesis. An inflammatory or reparative dysregulation, both in term of excess and deficiency, may cause ventricular dysfunction and life-threatening arrhythmias that heavily affect clinical outcome. This review discusses cellular process and molecular signaling pathways that determine fibrosis and the imaging technique that can characterize the clinical impact of this process in-vivo.

Myocardial ischemia due to a recanalized chronic coronary thrombus: Angiographic and optical coherence tomography imaging insights.

Chronic organized thrombus as a result of prior untreated myocardial infarction can determine myocardial ischemia. This entity appears as an angiographically irregular and hazy image; optical coherence tomography is useful to evaluate these ambiguous lesions and guide interventional treatment.

Radial Artery Access for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions: Contemporary Insights and Novel Approaches.

Since its introduction, the transradial access for percutaneous cardiovascular procedures has been associated with several advantages as compared to transfemoral approach, and has become the default for coronary angiography and intervention. In the last 30 years, a robust amount of evidence on the transradial approach has been mounted, promoting its diffusion worldwide. This article provides a comprehensive review of radial artery access for percutaneous cardiovascular interventions, including the evidence from clinical trials of transradial vs. transfemoral approach, technical considerations, access-site complications and limitations, alternative forearm accesses (e.g., ulnar and distal radial artery), and ultimately the use of the radial approach for structural interventions.