Prognostic value of post-percutaneous coronary intervention diastolic pressure ratio.

AIM: To evaluate the distribution of a generic diastolic pressure ratio (dPR) after angiographically successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to assess its association with the 2­year incidence of target vessel failure (TVF), defined as a composite of cardiac mortality, target vessel revascularisation, target vessel myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis. METHODS: The dPR SEARCH study is a post hoc analysis of the prospective single-centre FFR-SEARCH registry, in which physiological assessment was performed after angiographically successful PCI in a total of 1000 patients, using a dedicated microcatheter. dPR was calculated offline with recently validated software in a subset of 735 patients. RESULTS: Mean post-PCI dPR was 0.95 ± 0.06. Post-PCI dPR was ≤ 0.89 in 15.2% of the patients. The cumulative incidence of TVF at 2­year follow-up was 9.4% in patients with a final post-PCI dPR ≤ 0.89 as compared to 6.1% in patients with a post-PCI dPR > 0.89 (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for dPR ≤ 0.89: 1.53; 95% CI 0.74-3.13; p = 0.249). dPR ≤ 0.89 was associated with significantly higher cardiac mortality at 2 years; adjusted HR 2.40; 95% CI 1.01-5.68; p = 0.047. CONCLUSIONS: In a real-world setting, despite optimal angiographic PCI results, 15.2% of the patients had a final post-PCI dPR of ≤ 0.89, which was associated with a higher incidence of TVF and a significantly higher cardiac mortality rate.

Redo renal denervation using a multi-electrode radiofrequency system in patients with persistent therapy-resistant hypertension.

OBJECTIVES: Renal sympathetic denervation has been studied as a potential therapeutic option for patients with therapy-resistant hypertension; however, a significant proportion of patients do not show a significant reduction in blood pressure and are classified as non-responders. The objective of the present study was to assess whether a redo renal denervation procedure increases response rates. METHODS: We present a case series of three consecutive renal denervation non-responders treated with the multi-electrode radiofrequency St. Jude EnligHTN catheter after an average of 22 months. Patients were followed for 6 months. RESULTS: Mean age was 66 years and two patients were male. Patients were previously treated using either ReCor's Paradise system, the Vessix V2 system or the Covidien OneShot system. Mean office blood pressure one year after the initial procedure was 187/102 mm Hg with a mean 24 h ambulatory blood pressure of 166/102 mm Hg. All patients underwent a successful redo procedure using the EnligHTN system because of persistent therapy-resistant hypertension. At 6 months a significant drop in both office and ambulatory blood pressure of -27/-6 mm Hg and -15/-13 mm Hg, respectively, was observed. No significant renal artery stenosis was observed at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with therapy-resistant hypertension who do not respond to an initial renal denervation procedure, a redo procedure using the St. Jude EnligHTN system may help to significantly improve blood pressure control.