Manipulating the Flow of Thermal Noise in Quantum Devices.

There has been significant interest recently in using complex quantum systems to create effective nonreciprocal dynamics. Proposals have been put forward for the realization of artificial magnetic fields for photons and phonons; experimental progress is fast making these proposals a reality. Much work has concentrated on the use of such systems for controlling the flow of signals, e.g., to create isolators or directional amplifiers for optical signals. In this Letter, we build on this work but move in a different direction. We develop the theory of and discuss a potential realization for the controllable flow of thermal noise in quantum systems. We demonstrate theoretically that the unidirectional flow of thermal noise is possible within quantum cascaded systems. Viewing an optomechanical platform as a cascaded system we show here that one can ultimately control the direction of the flow of thermal noise. By appropriately engineering the mechanical resonator, which acts as an artificial reservoir, the flow of thermal noise can be constrained to a desired direction, yielding a thermal rectifier. The proposed quantum thermal noise rectifier could potentially be used to develop devices such as a thermal modulator, a thermal router, and a thermal amplifier for nanoelectronic devices and superconducting circuits.

[Transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect: how and when?] / Chiusura percutanea di difetto interventricolare post-infartuale: come e quando?

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a rare but clinically severe complication of acute myocardial infarction. Although cardiac surgery is the gold standard to correct post-infarction VSD, transcatheter closure represents an effective therapeutic alternative in selected cases. However, the correct timing for VSD correction is a matter of debate. Herein, we report the case of a patient who underwent transcatheter closure of post-infarction VSD, focusing the discussion on the pros and cons of an early VSD correction.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on coronary invasive procedures at two Italian high-volume referral centers.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to verify the impact on the number and characteristics of coronary invasive procedures for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) of two hub centers with cardiac catheterization facilities, during the first month of lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Procedural data of ACS patients admitted between 10 March and 10 April 2020 were compared with those of the same period of 2019. RESULTS: We observed a 23.4% reduction in ACS admissions during 2020, with a decrease for both ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (-5.6%) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (-34.5%), albeit not statistically significant (P = 0.2). During the first 15 days of the examined periods, the reduction in ACS admissions reached 52.5% (-25% for STEMI and -70.3% for non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, P = 0.04). Among STEMI patients, the rate of those with a time delay from symptoms onset longer than 180 min was significantly higher during the lockdown period (P = 0.01). Radiograph exposure (P = 0.01) was higher in STEMI patients treated in 2020 with a slightly higher amount of contrast medium (P = 0.1) and number of stents implanted (P = 0.1), whereas the number of treated vessels was reduced (P = 0.03). Percutaneous coronary intervention procedural success and in-hospital mortality were not different between the two groups and in STEMI patients (P NS for all). CONCLUSION: During the early phase, the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with a lower rate of admissions for ACS, with a substantial impact on the time delay presentation of STEMI patients, but apparently without affecting the in-hospital outcomes.

Percutaneous coronary interventions in octogenarians: Acute and 12 month results in a large single-centre experience.

OBJECTIVES: To review the results of PCI in patients aged >or=80 years. BACKGROUND: Octogenarians represent a growing proportion of patients treated with PCI; in this subset of high-risk patients, the role of complete revascularization is still controversial. METHODS: We examined in-hospital, 30 days, and 12-month events in 356 patients aged >or=80 years submitted to PCI from 2004 to 2006 and 754 patients aged <80 years treated in 2006. RESULTS: Octogenarians had a higher risk profile. A complete revascularization was obtained in 48% of them and in 65% of younger patients (P < 0.001); glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPI) use was common in both groups (43 vs. 46.5%). In-hospital mortality was higher in octogenarians (3.9 vs. 1.3%, P = 0.01) as well as vascular complications (2.8 vs. 1%, P = 0.058). Mortality resulted 5.9 vs. 1.2% at 30 days (P < 0.001), and 16.3 vs. 3.9% at 12 months (P <0.001) in the two groups whereas repeat revascularization procedures did not differ (9.3 vs. 8.4%, respectively). In patients aged >or=80, there was no difference in 12 months total events (20 vs. 28%, P = 0.07) and repeat revascularizations (8 vs. 10%, P = 0.498) in completely or uncompletely revascularized subjects. At multivariate analysis age (P = 0.002), diabetes (P = 0.002), three vessel disease (P = 0.020) and procedural success (P = 0.002) were independent predictors of total events at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, frequent GPI use and multivessel PCI in 41% of >or=80 years-old patients resulted in good immediate and mid-term clinical outcomes, irrespective of the completeness of revascularization achieved.

Single or multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate clinical results of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients with multivessel disease (MVD), in relation to single or multivessel (MV)-PCI and to patients with single vessel disease (SVD). METHODS: Patients treated with PCI in the setting of <24 hr STEMI in the years 2004-2007 were considered. RESULTS: Seven hundred forty-five primary PCI, 346 (46%) in patients with SVD and 399 (54%) in patients with MVD were performed. Among MVD patients, 156 (39%) had infarct related artery (IRA)-only treatment and 243 had MV-PCI: 147 (37%) in a single session, 48 (12%) within 24 hr, and 48 (12%) predischarge. Revascularization was complete in 46% of MVD patients. At a median follow-up of 597 days, mortality was 6.3% in SVD and 12% in MVD (P = 0.007), new revascularization 2.9% and 9%, respectively (P < 0.001). Thirty-day mortality was 2.4% in SVD and 6.7% in MVD (P = 0.006). After exclusion of patients with cardiogenic shock or pulmonary oedema, more frequent in the MV-PCI in single session group (P = 0.006), 30-day mortality was SVD 1.3%, IRA-only 6.3%, MV-PCI 2.8% (P = 0.023), without differences if in a single (3.3%) or in staged session (2.2%). By multivariate analysis, female sex, anterior STEMI, cardiogenic shock, MVD, and procedural failure were independent predictors of 30-day mortality. CONCLUSIONS: STEMI patients with MVD have a worse prognosis than those with SVD. MV-PCI in patients without hemodynamic compromise yields good short-term results, even if performed very early, with a 30-day mortality in between that of SVD patients and that of MVD patients with IRA-only treatment.

Clinical comparison of "normal-hours" vs "off-hours" percutaneous coronary interventions for ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: High mortality rates were reported in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PPCI) "off-hours." The objective of this study was to evaluate this issue in a more recent population of patients with STEMI treated with PPCI in a high-volume tertiary center specifically dedicated to STEMI treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed in-hospital/1-year mortality among 985 consecutive patients with STEMI treated with PPCI between January 2003 and December 2005 in a high-volume (>1400 PCI/year) hub center in a STEMI provincial network organization during "normal-hours" (weekdays 08:00 am to 07:29 pm) and "off-hours" (weekdays 07:30 pm to 07:59 am and weekends). Most (61.2%) patients were treated during "off-hours". Clinical and angiographic characteristics of the "normal-hours" and "off-hours" groups were comparable (in both groups, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa were administered to approximately 80% patients). The off-hours group tended toward higher median (25th-75th percentiles) total ischemic time (199 [135-312] minutes vs 179 [126-285] minutes; P = .052). Median electrocardiogram-to-balloon time was less than 90 minutes in both groups. Despite 20 minutes longer median total ischemic time, patients who underwent PPCI during "off-hours" showed similar post-PPCI Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 3 flow grade and mean left ventricular ejection fraction. No difference could be observed between the 2 groups in terms of in-hospital and 1-year mortality rates. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that the clinical effectiveness of "normal" and "off-hours" PPCI can be equivalent, at least when performed at a center specifically dedicated to STEMI treatment with frequent use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa agents.

Left main percutaneous coronary intervention in ACS or stable coronary artery disease: acute and long-term results.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess in-hospital and long-term results of the novo unprotected left main (UPLM) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or stable coronary artery disease (CAD), in an unselected population admitted to a single high- volume cath-lab without on-site cardiac surgery. METHODS: From 2008 to 2011, among 317 PCI performed in patients with the novo UPLM stenosis, 49 patients presented ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 152 non ST-elevation MI/unstable angina (NSTEMI/UA), 116 stable CAD. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was 20% in STEMI, 5.3% in NSTEMI/UA and 1.7% in stable CAD patients (P<0.001). Two-year total mortality was 24.5%, 25.6% and 6% in the 3 groups, and cardiac death was 20%, 13.8% and 3.4% (P=0.002). Left main target lesion revascularization (TLR) was similar in the 3 groups, as the clinically-driven TLR (10% vs. 11% vs. 7.7%, P=0.642), with neither definite nor probable stent thrombosis. Multivariate analysis showed the following independent predictors of 2-year mortality: bare-metal stent use (OR 4.53, P<0.001), Syntax Score >32 (OR 3.53, P=0.012), ACS as the indication (OR 3.24, P=0.012), peripheral artery disease (OR 2.20, P=0.042), and age >75 years (OR 2.09, P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our experience showed acceptable results of UPLM PCI in STEMI patients, where short-term prognosis was related to hemodynamic conditions, good results in NSTEMI/UA patients where mortality increased in the follow-up due to comorbidities, and very good results in patients with stable CAD.

Bioresorbable Scaffold vs. Second Generation Drug Eluting Stent in Long Coronary Lesions requiring Overlap: A Propensity-Matched Comparison (the UNDERDOGS study).

BACKGROUND: Randomized clinical trials on bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) enrolled patients with simple coronary lesions. The present study was sought to give preliminary findings about safety of BRS implantation in overlap in long coronary lesions. METHODS: From June 2012 to January 2015, we prospectively collected data from 162 consecutive patients receiving overlapping BRS implantation in the 16 participating institutions. We applied a propensity-score to match BRS-treated patients with 162 patients receiving second generation drug eluting stents (DES) in overlap. The primary endpoint was a device-oriented endpoint (DOCE), including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization. RESULTS: DOCE rate did not significantly differ between the two groups (5.6% in BRS group vs. 7.4% in DES group, HR 0.79, 95%CI 0.37-3.55, p=0.6). Also stent/scaffold thrombosis did not differ between groups (1.2% in BRS group vs. 1.9% in DES group, p=0.6). Occurrence of procedural-related myocardial injury was significantly higher in the BRS group (25% vs. 12%, p=0.001), although it was not related to DOCE (HR 1.1, 95%CI 0.97-1.2, p=0.2). Imaging techniques and enhanced stent visualization systems were significantly more employed in the BRS group (p=0.0001 for both). Procedure length, fluoroscopy time and contrast dye amount were significantly higher in the BRS group (p=0.001, p=0.001 and p=0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Overlapping BRS utilization in long coronary lesions showed a comparable DOCE rate at 1year if compared to second generation DES. Further and larger studies are on demand to confirm our findings.

Effect of sirolimus-eluting stent in diabetic patients with small coronary arteries (a SES-SMART substudy).

Randomized clinical trials have shown that sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) decrease restenosis rates compared with bare metal stents (BMSs), but their efficacy among patients who have diabetes mellitus remains to be established. This study investigated the effect of SES implantation in a high-risk population (i.e., patients who had diabetes and small coronary vessel disease). For this purpose, we analyzed outcomes of the subset of patients who had diabetes and were enrolled in the SES-SMART, a randomized trial that compared the results of implantation of SESs and BMSs in small coronary arteries. Twenty-nine patients who had diabetes were originally randomized to receive SESs and 45 patients received BMSs. The use of SESs was associated with approximately 60% decreases in the relative incidence of in-segment angiographic restenosis (63% vs 25%, p = 0.003) and in-segment late loss (0.76 vs 0.28 mm, p <0.002). Angiographic patterns of restenosis were more favorable in the SES group. SES implantation was associated with a 15% absolute decrease in adverse clinical events. In patients who had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, SESs showed a high in-segment restenosis rate (40%) that was principally due to persistent restenosis. In conclusion, in diabetics with small coronary arteries, SES implantation significantly reduces the incidence of the 8-month angiographic restenosis rate compared with BMSs.

Beta brachytherapy of an old degenerated saphenous vein graft with occlusive in-stent restenosis.

We report a case of obstructive in-stent restenosis in a diffusely diseased saphenous vein graft complicated by a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. With tirofiban infusion, the extensively occluded saphenous bypass was reperfused, establishing a TIMI flow 3, and then entirely irradiated with a beta source (32P) without any complication. At 7 months the patient was asymptomatic and the control angiogram did not reveal any restenosis. In conclusion, 32P beta brachytherapy may be extremely effective not only in case of native vessel in-stent restenosis but also in cases of high-risk vein graft in-stent restenosis.

Clinical relevance of homocysteine levels in patients receiving coronary stenting for unstable angina.

BACKGROUND: We prospectively investigated whether plasma homocysteine (HCY) concentrations are related to target lesion revascularization (TLR) rates in patients with unstable angina undergoing stenting. METHODS: We enrolled 196 consecutive patients with at least one successful coronary stent implantation for unstable angina. RESULTS: The mean vessel diameter was 3.1 +/- 0.5 mm. At follow-up (17.8 +/- 7.5 months), patients with higher HCY levels (> 17 micromol/l, 4th quartile) had similar TLR rates to the rest of the sample (11.1 vs 13.2%, p = 0.90). On the other hand, high HCY levels did seem to be associated with higher total (13.3 vs 0.7%, p = 0.001) and cardiac (6.7 vs 0%, p = 0.01) mortality rates. At multivariate analysis, only target vessel diameter independently predicted TLR, while both HCY levels and target vessel size predicted late total mortality. CONCLUSIONS: At least in patients with a mean vessel diameter > 3 mm, HCY levels cannot be taken as a prognostic indicator of in-stent restenosis for patients with unstable angina. However, in spite of successful percutaneous revascularization, HCY values do seem to strongly influence late mortality.

[Intracoronary beta-radiotherapy in high-risk in-stent restenosis. Prospective results of a single center registry]. / Efficacia a lungo termine della brachiterapia endocoronarica beta (32P) nel trattamento delle ristenosi intrastent ad elevato rischio. Risultati prospettici di un registro monocentrico.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate, on single center prospective data, long-term angiographic and clinical results of intracoronary beta (32P) brachytherapy in "real world" patients with high-risk in-stent restenosis lesions. METHODS: Sixty-nine consecutive patients (77 lesions) with high-risk in-stent restenosis (mean lesion length 30.3 +/- 16.1 mm, pattern III-IV 57.2%, diabetes 33.3%) treated with percutaneous dilation procedures and beta-radiation therapy, underwent 7-month clinical and angiographic follow-up. RESULTS: One patient (1.4%) presented with procedural non-Q wave myocardial infarction. At a mean follow-up of 7 +/- 1.5 months, death was observed in 1 patient (1.4%) and non-Q wave myocardial infarction in 3 (4.3%) (in 2 patients, who prematurely discontinued antiplatelet therapy, caused by late coronary thrombosis). Seven-month binary angiographic restenosis occurred in 20 lesions (25.9%) (in-stent restenosis 11.6%). Target lesion and target vessel revascularization occurred in 20 (28.9%) and 21 (30.4%) patients. At follow-up only 12 (17.3%) patients presented with CCS class III-IV angina. After intracoronary beta brachytherapy angiographic restenosis occurred regardless of the vessel size, lesion length and ostial location. On the contrary a high restenosis rate was documented in obstructive lesions. CONCLUSIONS: As applied in routine clinical practice, radiation therapy is safe and effective in the treatment of high-risk in-stent restenosis. In spite of all that, total occlusion at baseline predicts late angiographic restenosis.

Coronary thrombus in patients undergoing primary PCI for STEMI: Prognostic significance and management.

Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) usually results from coronary atherosclerotic plaque disruption with superimposed thrombus formation. Detection of coronary thrombi is a poor prognostic indicator, which is mostly proportional to their size and composition. Particularly, intracoronary thrombi impair both epicardial blood flow and myocardial perfusion, by occluding major coronary arteries and causing distal embolization, respectively. Thus, although primary percutaneous coronary intervention is the preferred treatement strategy in STEMI setting, the associated use of adjunctive antithrombotic drugs and/or percutaneous thrombectomy is crucial to optimize therapy of STEMI patients, by improving either angiographical and clinical outcomes. This review article will focus on the prognostic significance of intracoronary thrombi and on current antithrombotic pharmacological and interventional strategies used in the setting of STEMI to manage thrombotic lesions.

Administration of eptifibatide during transfer for primary PCI in patients with STEMI: effect on Pre-PCI TIMI flow and its correlation with pain-to-therapy time.

BACKGROUND: Facilitation therapy in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is still controversial and no relationship between timing of treatment and efficacy has been reported to date. METHODS: In order to evaluate the effect of pre-catheterization laboratory (cath lab) administration of eptifibatide on pre-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow and its correlation with ischemia duration, we studied all 438 STEMI patients treated with primary PCI from January 2006 to December 2007: 310 patients were pretreated with eptifibatide (Group P), while 128 patients received either no glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors or were only given them in the cath lab (Group C). All ischemia times (chest pain onset, diagnostic electrocardiogram, eptifibatide administration, cath lab arrival, first balloon inflation) were recorded. Group P was divided into early (E:159 patients with symptoms duration or= 2 flow on multivariable analysis. Thirtyday mortality was 1.9% in Group P and 9.5% in Group C (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, very early (< 90 minutes) eptifibatide therapy prior to primary PCI achieves a higher rate of pre-PCI TIMI flow >or= 2 with respect to late administration.

Comparison of multiple drug-eluting stent percutaneous coronary intervention and surgical revascularization in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease: one-year clinical results and total treatment costs.

PURPOSE: Consecutive patients with multivessel coronary artery disease treated with multiple drug-eluting-stent (DES) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (111 patients) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) (95 patients) on the basis of clinico-anatomical judgment were examined to investigate mediumterm clinical results and initial and total costs. METHODS: Clinical and procedural characteristics, duration of hospital stay, initial and total costs and 12-month follow-up events were considered in both groups. RESULTS: Previous revascularization procedures and acute coronary syndromes were more frequent in the PCI group, while triple-vessel and left main disease occurred more often in the CABG group. The mean number of treated vessels in multiple DES PCI was 2.7/patient, with 2.8 DES/patient. Complete revascularization was achieved in 70% of cases. Inhospital events were postprocedural non-Q-wave acute myocardial infarction in 5.4%, and 2 retroperitoneal hemorrhages. CABG was performed with a mean of 3.9 grafts/patient; 16 patients (17%) had early complications; mean hospital stay was significantly longer than for the PCI patients (23.5 +/- 10 vs. 5.3 +/- 3 days; p < 0.001). Twelve-month total mortality and acute myocardial infarction incidents were similar, while target vessel revascularization was significantly more frequent in the PCI group (12.6% PCI vs. 2.1% CABG; p < 0.001); cumulative major adverse cardiac events were not significantly different (15.3% PCI vs. 9.5% CABG; p = 0.271). Initial and final costs were lower for multivessel PCI with DES (20,050 +/- 2,702 for CABG vs. 10,214 +/- 4,184 for PCI; p < 0.001), but not completely covered by current DRG reimbursement. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple DES PCI showed good earlyand medium-term results with substantially lower costs than CABG.

One-year clinical results and total costs of drug-eluting stents implantation in multivessel coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVES: One hundred and eleven consecutive patients with multivessel coronary artery disease treated with percutaneous coronary intervention with multiple drug-eluting stents were examined to investigate 1-year clinical results and initial and total costs. METHODS: Clinical and procedural characteristics, duration of hospital stay and 12-month follow-up events were considered. Real costs of multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention with multiple drug-eluting stents were calculated, including disposables, personnel, equipment depreciation and hospital stay, whereas medical resources consumption at 12 months were calculated as disease related group reimbursement tariffs. RESULTS: The patient population (69% males, mean age 65 +/- 10 years) presented mid to high-risk clinical and anatomical characteristics. The mean number of treated vessels was 2.36 per patient with 2.8 drug-eluting stents per patient. A complete revascularization was achieved in 70% of cases. In-hospital events were post-procedural non-Q myocardial infarction in 5.4% and two retroperitoneal haemorrhages. Post-procedural hospital stay was 2.5 +/- 2.3 days (mean total hospital stay = 5.3 +/- 3 days). At 12-month follow-up, total mortality and acute myocardial infarction incidence were 3.6% and 1.8%, respectively; only one patient (0.9%) presented subacute stent thrombosis at 3 months, which was treated by urgent re-percutaneous coronary intervention. Target vessel revascularization rate was 12.6% and the incidence of cumulative major adverse cardiac events was 15.3%. Initial hospital costs were 8992 euros +/- 2825 (5518 euros +/- 1098 for procedure and 3473 euros+/- 2347 for hospital stay); follow-up costs were 222 euros+/- 3087, leading to 12-month total costs of 10214 euros+/- 4184. CONCLUSIONS: Multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stents showed good early and medium-term results with acceptable total costs. Despite not completely being covered by actual disease related group reimbursement, the initial and final costs were substantially lower than that of disease related group reimbursement for coronary artery bypass graft.

Randomized comparative trial of a thin-strut bare metal cobalt-chromium stent versus a sirolimus-eluting stent for coronary revascularization.

OBJECTIVES: To see whether use of a sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) is superior to a third-generation thin-strut, cobalt-chromium stent (CCS) in terms of in-segment late loss at 9 months in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. BACKGROUND: Stent-strut thickness has been shown to be strictly related with risk of in-stent restenosis, but available demonstrations of the angiographic efficacy of SES have been based on comparisons with thick-strut bare metal control stents. METHODS: The primary outcome measure of this single-center, single-blind randomized comparative trial was 9-month in-segment late loss. Eligibility criteria were symptomatic coronary artery disease and target vessel diameter appropriate for implantation a 3-mm stent. Based on a power calculation, 104 patients were randomly assigned to receive a SES (Cypher) or a CCS (Vision). RESULTS: In-segment late loss was significantly lower in the SES group (0.18 +/- 0.40 mm vs 0.58 +/- 0.51 mm, P < 0.001). Regarding subsidiary outcome measures, in-segment restenosis (at 9 months) was recorded in 10% (5/50) patients treated with SES and 23% (11/48) receiving CCS (P = 0.14). No clinical difference between the two groups was apparent at 12 months. Freedom from target vessel failure at 12 months was 72% for SES patients and 68% for CCS patients (P = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with de-novo coronary lesions at medium risk of restenosis the anti-proliferative effect of SES is greater than that of a thin-strut CCS. Nevertheless, the angiographic results of the CCS were rather good. It remains to be seen whether the angiographic superiority of SES can translate into clinical superiority.

Clinical impact of direct referral to primary percutaneous coronary intervention following pre-hospital diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

AIMS: Treatment delay is a powerful predictor of survival in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We investigated effectiveness of pre-hospital diagnosis of STEMI with direct referral to PCI, alongside more conventional referral strategies. METHODS AND RESULTS: From January 2003 to December 2004, 658 STEMI patients were referred for primary PCI at our intervention laboratory. Three predefined referral routes were compared: (1) for patients within 90 min drive of the PCI centre, pre-hospital diagnosis and direct transportation (n=166), (2) diagnosis at the interventional hospital emergency department (n=316), (3) diagnosis at local hospitals before transportation (n = 176). Pre-hospital diagnosis was associated with more than 45 min reduction in treatment delay (P = 0.001). No significant difference in in-hospital mortality was apparent in the overall study population. In the cardiogenic shock subgroup (n = 80), pre-hospital diagnosis was associated with a two-thirds reduction in in-hospital mortality (P = 0.019); mortality was only 6.2% in shock patients who underwent PCI in < 2 h. CONCLUSION: This study shows that pre-hospital diagnosis can provide a reduction in primary PCI treatment delay, and suggests the hypothesis that this referral strategy might provide survival benefits to patients with cardiogenic shock.

32P brachytherapy in the treatment of complex Cypher in-stent restenosis.

Treatment of in-stent restenosis after implantation of a drug-eluting stent is a critical issue. We provide the first report of the use of intravascular radiation therapy for this purpose in a 73-year-old diabetic patient stented for small-vessel bifurcation; treatment of Cypher diffuse in-stent restenosis with (32)P brachytherapy proved successful at clinical and angiographic follow-up at 7 months. This finding should encourage systematic studies on the safety and efficacy of IRT in this problematic setting.