The Best Approach for Patients with Stable Coronary Disease: The Importance of a Multidisciplinary Heart Team.

Background: A multidisciplinary Heart Team (HT) is nowadays considered to be of great importance for a complete and accurate assessment of patients with stable coronary disease (CAD). This study evaluates the role of the HT approach in the selection of best therapeutic strategies for patients with stable CAD. Methods: The study included 200 patients with stable coronary artery disease. The weekly HT meetings consisted of open discussion taking into consideration the latest recommended therapies. HT outcome options included medical therapy (MT), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or surgical intervention (CABG). Following HT implementation, the 1-, 3-, and 6-month outcomes in addition to the distribution of baseline characteristics were assessed. Results: The following HT strategies were implemented: PCI - 46%, CABG - 10% and MT - 44% of patients. Patients selected for surgical treatment were more likely to have multi-vessel coronary disease (p=0.011). The survival rates at 6 months according to HT strategy were 96.8% for PCI, 95% for CABG, and 94.2% for MT. Conclusions: The HT multidisciplinary decision is mandatory for optimal patient care and can prevent specialty biases. Tertiary care institutions should develop and implement interdisciplinary protocols for common CAD cases.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a patient with interventricular membranous septal aneurysm resulted in cardiac tamponade of unclear etiology.

An 86-year-old lady with severe aortic stenosis and interventricular membranous septal aneurysm underwent transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). A balloon-expandable valve was deployed after a difficult native valve crossing. Transesophageal echocardiography showed a rapidly accumulating pericardial effusion, with pericardial thrombus and subsequent cardiac tamponade. The angiographic views raised suspicion of aortic root perforation. Median sternotomy was performed because of sudden hemodynamic collapse.The report presents the uncommon association between severe aortic stenosis and interventricular membranous septal aneurysm in an octogenarian and discusses its impact on the development of a post-TAVI major complication.

Alcohol septal ablation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: For which patients?

Percutaneous and surgical therapies for septal reduction for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have been going head-to-head for the past 20 years with similar outcomes and mortality rates, although contemporary myectomy seems to materialize its superiority. However, on closer analysis, the external validity of studies advocating myectomy does not translate to all centres. The aim of this review was to examine the most recent data on septal reduction therapy and to attempt to phenotype the appropriate patient for each of the two treatments. The key to similar low mortality rates between ventricular septal myectomy and alcohol septal ablation appears to be proper patient selection performed in high volume clinical environments. Furthermore, we analyse the role of mavacampten (the recently approved cardiac myosin inhibitor) in replacing or complementing the two septal reduction therapies.

Surgical Turned-Downed CHIP Cases-Can PCI Save the Day?

Current guidelines, rarely if at all, address decision-making for revascularization when bypass surgery is not a possibility for high-risk cases. Patients who are surgically turned down are routinely excluded from clinical trials, even though they remain symptomatic. Furthermore, the reasons for surgical ineligibility are often times not captured in standardized risk models. There is no data regarding health status outcomes following PCI procedures in these patients and the ultimate question remains whether the benefits of PCI outweigh its risks in this controversial subpopulation. When CHIP (Complex High risk Indicated Percutaneous coronary interventions) is selected for these very complex individuals, there is no unanimity regarding the goals for interventional revascularization (for instance, the ambition to achieve completeness of revascularization vs. more targeted or selective PCI). The recognition that, worldwide, these patients are becoming increasingly prevalent and increasingly commonplace in the cardiac catheterization labs, along with the momentum for more complex interventional procedures and expanding skillsets, gives us a timely opportunity to better examine the outcomes for these patients and inform clinical decision-making.

Approaches to Peripheral Artery Disease in Diabetes: Are There Any Differences?

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) increases the risk of diabetes, while diabetes increases the risk of PAD, and certain symptoms in each disease increase the risk of contracting the other. This review aims to shed light on this harmful interplay between the two disorders, with an emphasis on the phenotype of a patient with both diabetes and PAD, and whether treatment should be individualized in this high-risk population. In addition, current guideline recommendations for the treatment of PAD were analyzed, in an attempt to establish the differences and evidence gaps across a population suffering from these two interconnected disorders.

Long-Term Mortality After Renal Artery Stenting in Patients With Severe Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis and High-Risk Clinical Manifestations.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis is a risk factor for cardiovascular death. Observational studies support the benefit of renal revascularization on outcomes in patients with high-risk clinical manifestations. In this context, we evaluated the factors associated with long-term mortality after renal artery stenting in patients with severe renal artery stenosis, impaired kidney function, and/or uncontrolled hypertension. METHODS: The medical records of patients undergoing renal artery stenting between 2004 and 2014 were extracted. Blood pressure and creatinine were recorded at baseline, 24 hours poststenting and in the 1-month to 1-year interval that followed revascularization. Long-term follow-up was performed in March 2020. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 65 patients. Median follow-up was 120 months. In the first year after stenting, less patients had chronic kidney disease (CKD) class 3b-5 as compared with baseline (35.3% vs. 56.9%, P = 0.01). The number of patients with controlled blood pressure after revascularization increased with 69.2% (P < 0.001). Long-term all-cause mortality reached 44.6%. Age (odds ratio (OR) 1.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-1.2; P = 0.01), male gender (OR 7.9; 95% CI 1.9-43.5; P = 0.008), poststenting CKD class 3b-5 (OR 5.8; 95% CI 1.5-27.9; P = 0.01), and postrevascularization uncontrolled hypertension (OR 8.9; 95% CI 1.7-63.5; P = 0.01) were associated with long-term mortality independent of diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. CONCLUSIONS: Improved CKD class and blood pressure were recorded in the first year after renal artery stenting in patients with severe renal artery stenosis and high-risk clinical manifestations. The lack of improvement in kidney function and blood pressure was independently associated with long-term mortality.

Microvascular obstruction in acute myocardial infarction: an old and unsolved mystery.

In the setting of acute myocardial infarction, flow restoration in the culprit epicardial coronary artery is not synonymous with efficient reperfusion. Microvascular obstruction occurs in 50% of cases and represents a predictor of a long-term unfavorable outcome. Its prevalence has remained constant in recent years despite various treatment attempts. However, the success of targeted therapies could be mainly a problem of timing. Recent data bring evidence with regard to the role of pre-procedural distal embolization and highlight the relation between distal embolism, microvascular obstruction and intramyocardial inflammation. As a result, early detection of microvascular injury represents the first step in the development of targeted, individualized therapeutic approaches. In this context, the identification of new invasive surrogate parameters for the timely assessment and quantification of microvascular obstruction in the catheterization laboratory has become an important subject of current research. Among these, coronary wedge pressure is the most practical and revealing in the setting of primary percutaneous coronary intervention. It may offer comprehensive details on the mechanisms of microvascular injury and may therefore offer guidance for appropriate treatment selection.

Pre-revascularization coronary wedge pressure as marker of adverse long-term left ventricular remodelling in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between coronary wedge pressure (CWP), measured as a marker of pre-procedural microvascular obstruction, and left ventricular remodelling in high-risk ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Pre-revascularization CWP was measured in 25 patients with high-risk anterior STEMI. Left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction were echocardiographically measured at discharge and at follow-up. A 20% increase in left ventricular volumes was used to define remodelling. Patients with CWP ≤ 38 mmHg were characterized by late ventricular remodelling. Patients with CWP > 38 mmHg developed a progressive remodelling process which was associated with a significant 60 months increase in left ventricular volumes (P = 0.01 for end-systolic volume and 0.03 for end-diastolic volume) and a significant decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (P = 0.05). A significant increase in both left ventricular end-systolic (P = 0.009) and end-diastolic volume (P = 0.02) from baseline to 60 months follow-up was recorded in patients with extracted thrombus length ≥2 mm. Pre-revascularization elevated CWP was associated with increased left ventricular volumes and decreased ejection fraction at long-term follow-up. CWP was a predictor of severe left ventricular enlargement, besides extracted thrombus quantity.

Coronary-Subclavian Steal: Case Series and Review of the Literature.

Coronary subclavian steal syndrome (CSSS) is a relatively uncommon entity, and its clinical spectrum is characterized by stable exertional angina and rarely as acute coronary syndrome. The diagnosis can be established easily by angiography. We report a case series of three patients with CSSS and acute coronary syndrome and we review the literature in the attempt to understand the nature of symptomatology and the mechanisms of ischemia in this condition. Our study raised some questions about the correct definition of this entity, the pathophysiology of coronary steal and the mechanisms of ischemia, in the setting of unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction.