Autologous blood reinfusion during iatrogenic acute hemorrhagic cardiac tamponade: Safety and feasibility in a cohort of 30 patients.

BACKGROUND: Iatrogenic hemorrhagic pericardial tamponade (IHPT) represents a life-threating condition requiring emergency pericardiocentesis. In this clinical context, reinfusion of pericardial blood can stabilize the patient and sustain hemodynamic conditions. AIMS AND METHODS: We reviewed all cases of IHPT occurred at our hospital over a 10 years span. In all patient autologous blood reinfusion through a femoral vein was performed. RESULTS: In our clinical experience of 30 consecutive patients with hemorrhagic cardiac tamponade, this technique was successful to limit blood transfusions, to prevent further clinical worsening and bridge patients with intractable bleeding, to cardiac surgery. No major adverse reactions were directly related to blood autotransfusion. CONCLUSION: In the complex clinical scenario of acute tamponade occurring during catheter-based cardiac procedures, autotransfusion of pericardial blood through a femoral vein is safe and effective. It can be a useful trick up the sleeve of the interventional cardiologist.

Endothelial dysfunction: its clinical value and methods of assessment.

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is a systemic disorder characterized by reduced production of nitric oxide. This pathologic condition, which impairs vascular homeostasis, leads to the loss of protective properties of endothelial cells and is related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. ED may affect every vascular bed, accounting for several clinical implications, particularly when the coronary bed is affected. Although the reliability of ED as a cardiovascular disease surrogate is still debated, many methods for its assessment have been proposed. In this review, we underline the clinical value of ED in the cardiovascular field and summarize the principal methods currently available for its assessment.

Impact of dual antiplatelet therapy duration on clinical outcome after coronary bifurcation stenting: results from the EuroBifurcation Club registry.

BACKGROUND: Optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of a bifurcation stenosis is still debated. We evaluated the impact of DAPT duration on clinical outcomes in all-comers patients undergoing bifurcation PCI included in the European Bifurcation Club (EBC) registry. METHODS: We enrolled 2284 consecutive patients who completed at least 18 months follow-up. The cumulative occurrence of major adverse cardiac and cardiovascular events (MACCE), defined as a composite of overall-death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR) and stroke were evaluated. Bleedings classified as Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) ≥3 were evaluated too. RESULTS: Patients were divided into 3 groups: short DAPT (<6-months, N.=375); standard DAPT (≥6-months but ≤12-months, N.=636); prolonged DAPT (>12-months, N.=1273). At 24 months follow-up MACCE-free survival was significantly lower in short DAPT patients (Log-Rank: 45.23, P for trend <0.001). MACCE occurred less frequently in the prolonged DAPT group (148 [11.6%]) as compared with both the short (83 [22.1%] HR: 0.48 [0.37-0.63], P<0.001) and standard DAPT groups (137 [21.5%] HR:0.51 [0.41-0.65], P<0.001). These differences remain after propensity score adjustment (respectively, HR: 0.27 [0.20-0.36] and HR: 0.44 [0.34-0.57]). Such finding was consistent in patients presenting with both acute and chronic coronary syndromes. BARC≥3 bleedings were 0.3% in the standard DAPT, 1.6% in short and 1.9% in prolonged DAPT groups. CONCLUSIONS: In the "real-world" EBC registry of patients undergoing PCI of coronary artery bifurcation stenosis, a prolonged DAPT duration was associated with a significantly lower risk of MACCE and a potential increased risk of major bleedings.

[Adipokines and coronary artery disease]. / Le adipochine e la malattia aterosclerotica coronarica.

Adipose tissue, besides being an important energetic storage, is also a source of cytokines and hormones which act in a paracrine, autocrine and especially endocrine manner, influencing the cardiometabolic axis. Adipokines are a group of mediators with pleiotropic function, that are involved in many physiological processes, so that a disregulation in their secretion can lead to multiple pathological conditions. In this review our aim was to clarify the role of adipokines in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, especially in coronary artery disease, and based on current scientific evidence, to analyze the therapeutic and behavioral strategies that are so far available.

True double bifurcation lesions: new application of the self-expandable Axxess stent and review of literature with dedicated bifurcation devices.

Complex coronary artery bifurcation lesions occurred in hard clinical scenarios, such as acute coronary syndromes, may represent a challenge for interventional cardiologists, with not-defined general consensus on treatment. Even if provisional stenting is the most common option used to restore rapidly the coronary branches flow, improvements in industrial technologies and design of new dedicated bifurcation devices might open new modalities of treatment in these complex cases. The Axxess stent (Biosensors Europe SA, Morges, Switzerland) is a self-expanding biolimus-eluting conical V-shape stent, specifically designed to treat "easily" coronary artery bifurcation lesions, with reported favorable long-term clinical results in stable patients compared to a provisional technique. We report for the first time the feasibility to use this device in a case of "true double coronary bifurcation lesion" occurred in the context of acute coronary syndrome. Moreover, we reviewed studies with bifurcation dedicated devices and available cases of "true double bifurcation lesions", underlying advantages/disadvantages of using one device over the others during acute coronary syndrome.

Abluminal-Coated Drug-Eluting Bifurcation-Dedicated Stent for the Treatment of Tibioperoneal Bifurcation.

Endovascular treatment of below-the-knee region disease is often challenging because of the involvement of arterial bifurcations. Several cases have been reported on the use of coronary stents for the treatment of these patients, but limited evidence is available on the use of dedicated coronary bifurcation devices. We here report the endovascular treatment of a symptomatic bifurcation lesion in below-the-knee region, using a self-expanding Biolimus A9-eluting stent in combination with a "conventional" coronary drug-eluting stent.

Very late bioresorbable scaffold thrombosis and reoccurrence of dissection two years later chronic total occlusion recanalization of the left anterior descending artery.

We describe the case of a patient presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction due to very late scaffold thrombosis. The patient was already admitted for an elective percutaneous recanalization of a chronically occluded left anterior descending artery (LAD). The procedure was performed according the sub-intimal tracking and re-entry (STAR) technique with 4 bioresorbable vascular scaffolds implantation. However, even though the coronary flow was preserved at the end of the procedure, the dissected segment was only partially sealed at the distal segment of the LAD. After 18 mo of regular assumption, dual antiplatelet therapy was discontinued for 10 mo before his presentation at the emergency room. This is the first reported case of a very late scaffold thrombosis after coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) recanalization performed according to the STAR technique. This case raises concerns about the risk of very late scaffold thrombosis after complex CTO revascularization.

[Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation in a patient with a degenerative sutureless aortic bioprosthesis: case report and literature review]. / Impianto transcatetere di valvola aortica in paziente con bioprotesi aortica sutureless degenerata: descrizione di un caso e revisione della letteratura.

Sutureless aortic bioprostheses (SAB) provide shorter aortic cross-clamp time and cardiopulmonary bypass duration compared to conventional aortic valve replacement. Similarly to other bioprostheses, reintervention may become necessary in some cases because of long-term structural degeneration of the valve. Valve-in-valve (ViV) transcatheter aortic valve replacement may represent an effective and safe alternative to aortic valve replacement in patients with degenerated bioprostheses who carry a high risk for reintervention. We report the case of a self-expandable transcatheter ViV procedure in a degenerated SAB.

Pharmacotherapeutic considerations for the use of prasugrel and ticagrelor to reduce stent thrombosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Despite the improvement in stent technology, stent thrombosis (ST), a potentially catastrophic event, still occurs. Among several risk factors for ST, high on-treatment platelet reactivity to clopidogrel has been demonstrated to play a role, occurring in about one-third of the patients. In order to overcome this limitation, prasugrel and ticagrelor, newer P2Y12 inhibitors, have been developed and approved for clinical use. Two large clinical trials, TRial to assess Improvement in Therapeutic Outcomes by optimizing platelet inhibitioN with prasugrel-thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TRITON-TIMI) 38 and Study of Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes (PLATO), evaluated these drugs in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), showing a significant improvement in efficacy end points (including a prominent reduction in ST occurrence) compared to clopidogrel. In contrast, the TRILOGY ACS trial found no benefit with prasugrel compared to clopidogrel in patients with medically treated ACS. The aim of this review is to consider decision-making strategies between prasugrel and ticagrelor in daily clinical practice.

No-reflow phenomenon: pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. A review of the current literature and future perspectives.

No-reflow is responsible for 40% of the primary percutaneous coronary intervention without complete myocardial reperfusion despite successful reopening of the infarct-related artery. This review describes the main pathophysiological mechanisms of no-reflow, its clinical manifestation, including the strong association with increased in-hospital mortality, malignant arrhythmias, and cardiac failure as well as the diagnostic methods. The latter ranges from simple angiographic thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade score to more complex angiographic indexes, imaging techniques such as myocardial contrast echo or cardiac magnetic resonance, and surrogate clinical end points such as ST-segment resolution. This review also summarizes the strategies of prevention and treatment of no-reflow, considering the most recent studies results regarding medical therapy and devices.

Reperfusion correlates and clinical outcomes of right ventricular dysfunction in patients with inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

We evaluated the relation between reperfusion indexes and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients with inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We included patients with inferior STEMI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and right coronary artery as infarct-related artery. Myocardial reperfusion was evaluated by Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow, TIMI frame count, myocardial blush grade, and ST-segment resolution. RV dysfunction was defined as tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion≤16 mm in M-mode imaging. RV dysfunction was present in 58 of 141 patients (41.1%) and was more frequent in patients achieving suboptimal postprocedural TIMI flow grade (66.7% vs 36.7%, grades 0 to 2 vs 3, p=0.01), TIMI frame count (63.2% vs 37.7%, ≥40 vs <40 frames, p=0.04), and myocardial blush grade (33.3% vs 56.2%, grade 0 or 1 vs 2 or 3, p=0.001). RV dysfunction rates did not differ according to ST-segment resolution. Patients with RV dysfunction had increased rates of cardiac death (13.2% vs 2.6%, p=0.03), reinfarction (24.5% vs 10.3%, p=0.03), and stent thrombosis (22.6% vs 6.4%, p=0.01) at 2-year follow-up. Postprocedural TIMI flow grade 3 (odds ratio 0.25, 95% confidence interval 0.09 to 0.68, p=0.007) was the only reperfusion correlate of RV dysfunction at multivariate analysis. In an independent cohort of 84 patients with STEMI, postprocedural TIMI flow grade 3 had a limited sensitivity (52%), with a high specificity (74.5%) and negative predictive value (71%) for excluding RV dysfunction. In conclusion, in patients with inferior STEMI undergoing coronary revascularization, RV dysfunction is associated with a worse long-term prognosis. Postprocedural TIMI flow grade may be a useful tool to predict RV dysfunction.

Adenosine-induced torsade de pointes complicating a fractional flow reserve measurement in a right coronary artery intermediate stenosis.

We present the case of a 57 year-old patient that presented to our Institution with a positive treadmill stress test. Coronary angiography revealed an intermediate stenosis of the right coronary artery evaluated with a fractional flow reserve (FFR), complicated by torsade de pointes. Despite this being a very rare arrhythmic complication during FFR, its prompt recognition and treatment are of utmost importance.

Long-term clinical outcomes following sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction. A meta-analysis of randomized trials.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of randomized trials, evaluating the long-term outcomes of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) versus bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). BACKGROUND: Despite short-term outcomes of patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention indicate a benefit of SES in terms of reintervention, several concerns remain on the long-term safety and efficacy of SES. METHODS: A systematic literature search of electronic resources, through October 2011, was performed using specific search terms. Included trials were randomized studies comparing SES to BMS in STEMI patients, with a follow-up ≥3 years. RESULTS: Seven trials were included, with a total of 2,364 patients. At a median follow-up of 3 years, SES significantly reduced the risk of target-vessel revascularization when compared with BMS [odds ratio (OR), 0.44; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.57; p < 0.0001], without increasing the risk of mortality (OR 0.78; 95 % CI, 0.57-1.08; p = 0.14), reinfarction (OR 0.91; 95 % CI, 0.61-1.35, p = 0.64) and early to late stent thrombosis (OR 0.77; 95 % CI, 0.49-1.20; p = 0.25). However after the first year, SES did not further reduce target-vessel revascularization (OR 1.06; 95 % CI, 0.64-1.74; p = 0.83) and increased the risk of very late stent thrombosis (OR 2.81; 95 % CI, 1.33-5.92; p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: At long-term follow-up, SES compared to BMS use in STEMI patients reduces the risk of target-vessel revascularization, without increasing the risk of death and reinfarction. However, the strong SES efficacy is counterbalanced by a significant risk of very late stent thrombosis.

Unrestricted use of endeavor resolute zotarolimus-eluting stent in daily clinical practice: a prospective registry.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of unrestricted Endeavor Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) use. Furthermore, we sought to evaluate clinical outcomes associated with on- and off-label use of Resolute ZES. METHODS: The current study was a prospective, single-center registry. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as the composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), and target-vessel revascularization (TVR). Secondary endpoints were death, MI, TVR, and stent thrombosis (ST). RESULTS: A total of 370 patients were prospectively enrolled. Off-label Resolute ZES use was performed in 311 patients (84%). At a mean follow-up of 17.3 ± 6 months, MACE occurred in 31 patients (8.5%), death in 15 (4.1%), MI in 10 (2.7%), and TVR in 19 (5.2%). Definite, probable, and possible ST occurred in 9 patients (2.5%). Off-label Resolute ZES implantation, as compared to on-label use, was not associated with an increased risk of MACE (9.4% vs 3.4%; P=.13), death (4.9% vs 0%; P=.14), MI (3.3% vs 0%; P=.38), and TVR (5.5% vs 3.4%; P=.75). On multivariable analysis, previous revascularization (P=.008), but not off-label Resolute ZES implantation (P=.07), was associated with MACE. CONCLUSIONS: In daily clinical practice, Resolute ZES was mostly implanted in patients with off-label indications and associated with a relatively low rate of MACE and TVR.