Transradial approach for carotid artery stenting: A position paper from the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE).

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a valid and effective alternative to endoatherectomy when performed by experienced operators. The conventional approach used is the transfemoral one, but in the last 10 years a transradial (TR) approach, the standard access for cardiac catheterization, became widely adopted for peripheral vascular interventions, included the extracranial carotids. Preliminary experiences suggest this approach as safe and effective, especially in specific anatomical and clinical settings that have been shown to be associated with high risk of complications from the femoral route. Lacking international guidelines, this document, promoted by the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology - Gruppo Italiano Studi Emodinamici (SICI-GISE), was drawn-up by a panel of interventional cardiologists with a documented experience on the subject, focusing on the indications, techniques and materials that should be used for this type of intervention and the most recent literature on the subject.

[Drug-eluting stents in contemporary interventional practice: the STENT PANORAMA project (Part I)]. / Gli stent coronarici a rilascio di farmaco nella pratica interventistica contemporanea: progetto STENT PANORAMA (Parte I).

STENT PANORAMA is a project carried out by the Young Interventional Cardiologists of Triveneto coordinated by the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (GISE) Veneto delegation. The project includes two parts: the first, here reported, is aimed at describing in a standardized and easily usable way the main technological characteristics of the latest generation of the drug eluting stents (DES) that are most widely used in the Italian cath-labs. The second, to follow, will aim to summarize the main scientific evidence regarding the performance of individual devices with particular reference to subgroups of clinical interest. The ambitious goal of the STENT PANORAMA working group is to provide the interventional cardiologist with a thorough, practical, and functional knowledge of the DES currently available in the modern therapeutic armamentarium to promote a therapeutic strategy tailored to the patient.

Comparison between sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents for the treatment of older patients affected by coronary artery disease: results from a single-center allcomers registry.

The treatment of elderly patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is challenging because this population is complex and greatly expanding. Drug-eluting stents (DES) generally improve the outcome in high-risk cases. We evaluated the clinical impact of different first-generation DES, i.e., sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES), in this context. A prospective, nonrandomized, single-center, allcomers registry consecutively enrolling all patients aged ≥75 years eligible for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with DES was carried out. Only one type of DES was implanted per protocol for each patient. Two groups were identified according to the type of implanted stent, i.e., SES and PES. The primary end point encompassed major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). The secondary end point encompassed the rate of definite/probable stent thrombosis and target vessel revascularization (TVR). From June 2004 to May 2008, 151 patients were enrolled. Among them, 112 (74.2%) received SES and 39 (25.8%) received PES. Baseline clinical characteristics were similar, while few angiographic features (ostial location, stent diameter, proximal reference vessel diameter) showed minor differences. At the median follow-up of 22.6 months, primary and secondary end points did not significantly differ in terms of MACE (SES 12.5% vs PES 20.5%, P = 0.3), death (SES 5.4% vs PES 7.7%, P = 0.7), myocardial infarction (SES 4.5% vs PES 10.3%, P = 0.2), TLR (SES 2.7% vs PES 2.6%, P = 1.0), stent thrombosis (SES 1.8% vs PES 5.1%, P = 0.3), and TVR (SES 1.8% vs PES 0%, P = 0.6). In this real-world population of elderly patients treated by DES-PCI for CAD, the overall efficacy and safety have been excellent in both DES, and the choice between SES and PES did not influence the clinical outcome.

Safety and Feasibility of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in COVID-19 Patients: A Case Series.

In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a decrease in interventional treatment for structural heart disease worldwide. In this context, the management of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) or bioprosthetic valve dysfunction (BVD) represents a clinical challenge, as a delay in aortic valve replacement procedures may increase short-term morbidity and mortality. We report four cases of TAVR performed in patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. All of them were discharged in good clinical conditions and no adverse events were reported at 30 days follow-up. Our experience suggests that in selected patients with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptomatic native AS or BVD, TAVR has a favorable short-term outcome.

[Endovascular treatment of a celiac trunk aneurysm: a case report and review of the literature]. / Trattamento transradiale di aneurisma complesso del tripode celiaco: descrizione di un caso e revisione della letteratura.

Celiac trunk aneurysms are uncommon vascular lesions; treatment is usually an open surgical operation; in the medical literature, only few cases of celiac aneurysm treated with endovascular technique are reported; coil positioning or stent-graft placement are described using a femoral vascular access as first choice.Here we describe the case of a 57-year-old man with an asymptomatic large celiac trunk aneurysm involving the origin of the splenic, left gastric and hepatic arteries. The patient was treated in an elective clinical setting with a totally endovascular procedure performed through the left radial artery. First, two vascular plugs were put into splenic and gastric artery, respectively, to prevent type II endoleak, then the aneurysm was closed using a balloon expandable stent-graft into the celiac trunk-hepatic axis. The procedure was completed without any complication. The computed tomography angiography scan confirmed total occlusion of the aneurysm and normal blood flow in the visceral arteries.This case shows that endovascular technique is effective and safe also for the treatment of very complex vascular lesions, and radial access could be considered the preferred choice to minimize access-related vascular complications.

Impending myocardial rupture: is an early surgical treatment enough?

A 53-year-old man with a high-risk cardiovascular profile presented to the emergency department for a subacute myocardial infarction with signs and symptoms suggesting impending myocardial rupture. The case seemed to be resolved by an early successful surgical intervention. At 6-month follow-up, after repeated cycles of cardiac rehabilitation, the echocardiography revealed a pseudo-aneurysm of the apex and a left-to-right shunt through an inter-ventricular septum defect. The patient needed a new surgical intervention to repair this unexpected complication.

Three-vessel coronary disease in diabetics: personalized versus evidence-based revascularization strategy.

A steady increase in the number of diabetic patients undergoing coronary revascularization has been recorded in recent years. The causes for this rise are found predominantly in the general demographic development of western industrialized nations, the epidemic progress and wide-spread of diabetes mellitus and changes in assignment behavior. In this article, the specific risk profile of diabetic coronary patients with three-vessel disease in percutaneous or surgical revascularization and tried and tested treatment concepts for this particularly challenging group of patients, with reference to the most recent study results will be presented. Particularly, the peculiarities of coronary heart disease in diabetic patients, the choice of revascularization method, different operative strategies for diabetic patients with coronary heart disease, and challenges faced during follow-up are discussed.