Clinical Features and Mortality Rate of Infective Endocarditis in Intensive Care Unit: A Large-Scale Study and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Large-scale multicentric studies reported that, despite advances in diagnosis, antibiotics, and surgical treatment, infective endocarditis (IE) in-hospital mortality remains high. Most data have been obtained from patients treated in infective disease wards, internal medicine, cardiology, or cardiac surgery departments and are therefore heterogeneous. The few studies focused on complicated IE patients leading to intensive care unit (ICU) admission have reported different methodologies and results. The aim of our study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and microbial features of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU with a definite IE diagnosis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective case-series population study from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2020. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 'Ward' (group 1) and 'ICU' patients (group 2), and a 1-year follow-up was performed. RESULTS: After performing a univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that the independent predictors of ICU admission were vegetation diameter >10 mm, abnormal PaO2/FiO2 ratio, and acute heart failure. Five independent mortality risk factors were identified: SOFA score >14, not performing surgery, age >70 years, acute heart failure, and embolic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Infective endocarditis in-hospital mortality remains high. ICU admission and mortality can be predicted by independent risk factors.

Coronary calcification in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes: insights from the MATRIX trial.

AIMS: The role of coronary calcification on clinical outcomes among different revascularization strategies in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) has been rarely investigated. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the role of coronary calcification, detected by coronary angiography, in the whole spectrum of patients presenting with acute ACS. METHODS AND RESULTS: The present study was a post hoc analysis of the MATRIX programme. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as the composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke up to 365 days. Among the 8404 patients randomized in the MATRIX trial, data about coronary calcification were available in 7446 (88.6%) and therefore were included in this post hoc analysis. Overall, 875 patients (11.7%) presented with severe coronary calcification, while 6571 patients (88.3%) did not present severe coronary calcification on coronary angiography. Fewer patients with severe coronary calcification underwent percutaneous coronary intervention whereas coronary artery bypass grafting or medical therapy-only was more frequent compared with patients without severe calcification. At 1-year follow-up, MACE occurred in 237 (27.1%) patients with severe calcified coronary lesions and 985 (15%) patients without severe coronary calcified lesions [hazard ratio (HR) 1.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.66-2.20, P < 0.001]. All-cause mortality was 8.6% in patients presenting with and 3.7% in those without severe coronary calcification (HR 2.38, 1.84-3.09, P < 0.001). Patients with severe coronary calcification incurred higher rate of MI (20.1% vs. 11.5%, HR 1.81; 95% CI 1.53-2.1, P < 0.001) and similar rate of stroke (0.8% vs. 0.6%, HR 1.35; 95% CI 0.61-3.02, P = 0.46). CONCLUSION: Patients with ACS and severe coronary calcification, as compared to those without, are associated with worse clinical outcomes irrespective of the management strategy.

Frequency and Clinical Significance of Atrial Cavities in situ Thrombosis: A Large-Scale Study and Literature Review.

Background: Atrial tachyarrhythmias are the main cause of atrial thrombosis, and are usually in the left appendage. The prevalence and causes of endocavitarian thrombosis have not been investigated in recent large-scale studies. Aim of our work was to describe the epidemiology, the clinical characteristics and predisposing factors of "extra-appendicular" atrial thrombosis and to report a systematic review of recent literature. Methods and Results: 5,862 consecutive adult patients referred to a transesophageal echocardiographic exam, were enrolled. A total of 175 subjects with Atrial Thrombosis were found with a prevalence of 2.98%; among those 22 was found in left (0.38%) and 2 in the right (0.03%) atrium. Among the 22 patients with left atrial thrombosis, 8 were associated with prosthetic valves, 4 with mitral stenosis and the remaining with hypercoagulative conditions (cancer, septic shock, eosinophilic pneumonia, cardiogenic shock and warfarin under-dosage in permanent atrial fibrillation and decompensated heart failure). Cancer was associated in one of the two patients with a right atrial clot. The review of the literature from 2000 to December 2019 revealed conflicting results of 48 case reports of atrial cavity thrombosis; pooling this data proved the rarity of extra-appendage thrombosis and confirmed its association with a valvular heart disease or a systemic hypercoagulable state. Conclusions: Atrial "extra-appendage" thrombosis is a rare condition usually associated to "valvular" atrial fibrillation (such as prosthetic valves and mitral stenosis). A minority, but significant, cases are secondary to a thrombophilic conditions. In absence of valvular heart disease an underlying condition should be sought.

Stepwise approach for visualization and reconstruction of pulmonary valve with intracardiac echocardiography.

Ventricular tachycardia and premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) arising from right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) are the most common type of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in patients without structural heart disease. Radiofrequency ablation is now the gold standard of treatment in this setting due to high efficacy rates and optimal safety profile. During the last few years, the pulmonary valve (PV) and the pulmonary artery (PA) have attracted much attention as reliable sites of origin of RVOT-type arrhythmias. In the mean while intracardiac echocardiogram (ICE) has undoubtedly improved our understanding of the cardiac anatomy. Aim of this paper is to provide an illustrated step-by-step guide on how to use ICE with the CARTOSOUND module to visualize and reconstruct 3D shell of the RV, the PV, as well of other contiguous anatomical structures (i.e., the aortic valve and coronary arteries) to perform aware and safe ablation in this region.

Downstream or upstream administration of P2Y12 receptor blockers in non-ST elevated acute coronary syndromes: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The optimal timing to administer a P2Y12 inhibitor in patients presenting with a non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome remains a topic of debate. Pretreatment with ticagrelor before coronary anatomy is known as a widely adopted strategy. However, there is poor evidence on how this compares with administration of a P2Y12 inhibitor after defining coronary anatomy (i.e., downstream administration). Moreover, there are limited head-to-head comparisons of the two P2Y12 inhibitors-ticagrelor and prasugrel-currently recommended by the guidelines. STUDY DESIGN: DUBIUS is a phase 4, multicenter, parallel-group, double randomized study conducted in NSTE-ACS patients designed to compare a pretreatment strategy (including only ticagrelor) versus a downstream strategy (including prasugrel or ticagrelor) and to compare downstream prasugrel with downstream ticagrelor. A total of 2520 patients will be randomly assigned to pretreatment with ticagrelor or to no pretreatment. The PCI group of the downstream arm will be further randomized to receive prasugrel or ticagrelor. The two primary hypotheses are that the downstream strategy is superior to the upstream strategy and that downstream ticagrelor is non-inferior to downstream prasugrel, both measured by the incidence of a composite efficacy and safety endpoint of death from vascular causes, non-fatal MI, or non-fatal stroke, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) type 3, 4, and 5 bleedings. CONCLUSIONS: The DUBIUS study will provide important evidence related to the benefits and risks of pretreatment with ticagrelor compared with a strategy of no pretreatment. Moreover, the clinical impact of using downstream ticagrelor compared with downstream prasugrel will be assessed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02618837 . Registered on 1 December 2015.

[Balloon aortic valvuloplasty and transcatheter valve implantation in a patient with unicuspid aortic valve and cardiogenic shock due to severe aortic stenosis]. / Un raro caso di stenosi aortica severa su valvola monocuspide trattato in emergenza con valvuloplastica e impianto transcatetere di protesi valvolare aortica.

We report a case of cardiogenic shock due to severe aortic stenosis in a 55-year-old patient with a congenital unicuspid aortic valve (UAV). An emergent aortic valvuloplasty was performed in the spoke catheterization laboratory which allowed to achieve transient stabilization of the hemodynamic parameters and to move the patient to the nearest hub hospital with on-site cardiac surgery. Since the surgical risk of an aortic valve replacement was deemed too high, a transcatheter procedure was performed with implantation of a self-expandable prosthesis. The final result was suboptimal due to a moderate residual paravalvular leak, but the patient experienced rapid recovery and was discharged 10 days after the procedure. Just a few cases of transcatheter aortic valve replacement due to severe aortic stenosis in UAV have been described but, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first one in a clinical setting of cardiogenic shock. Although the gold standard treatment for UAV is surgical intervention, this case demonstrates that the transcatheter procedure is feasible and may play a role as a bridge to definitive surgical replacement.

Timing of Oral P2Y12 Inhibitor Administration in Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Although oral P2Y12 inhibitors are key in the management of patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome, the optimal timing of their administration is not well defined. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare downstream and upstream oral P2Y12 inhibitors administration strategies in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome undergoing invasive treatment. METHODS: We performed a randomized, adaptive, open-label, multicenter clinical trial. Patients were randomly assigned to receive pre-treatment with ticagrelor before angiography (upstream group) or no pre-treatment (downstream group). Patients in the downstream group undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention were further randomized to receive ticagrelor or prasugrel. The primary hypothesis was the superiority of the downstream versus the upstream strategy on the combination of efficacy and safety events (net clinical benefit). RESULTS: We randomized 1,449 patients to downstream or upstream oral P2Y12 inhibitor administration. A pre-specified stopping rule for futility at interim analysis led the trial to be stopped. The rate of the primary endpoint, a composite of death due to vascular causes; nonfatal myocardial infarction or nonfatal stroke; and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 3, 4, and 5 bleeding through day 30, did not differ significantly between the downstream and upstream groups (percent absolute risk reduction: -0.46; 95% repeated confidence interval: -2.90 to 1.90). These results were confirmed among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (72% of population) and regardless of the timing of coronary angiography (within or after 24 h from enrollment). CONCLUSIONS: Downstream and upstream oral P2Y12 inhibitor administration strategies were associated with low incidence of ischemic and bleeding events and minimal numeric difference of event rates between treatment groups. These findings led to premature interruption of the trial and suggest the unlikelihood of enhanced efficacy of 1 strategy over the other. (Downstream Versus Upstream Strategy for the Administration of P2Y12 Receptor Blockers In Non-ST Elevated Acute Coronary Syndromes With Initial Invasive Indication [DUBIUS]; NCT02618837).

PrevenTion of contrast-inducEd nephropAThy with urinE alkalinization: the TEATE study design.

: Intravascular administration of iodinated contrast media is an essential tool for the imaging of blood vessels and cardiac chambers, as well as for percutaneous coronary and structural interventions. Along with the spreading of diagnostic and interventional procedures, the increasing incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) has become an important and prognostically relevant problem. CIN is thought to be largely dependent on oxidative damage, and is a considerable cause of renal failure, being associated with prolonged hospitalization and significant morbidity/mortality. The most effective treatment strategy of this serious complication remains prevention, and several preventive measures have been extensively investigated in the last few years.Preprocedural hydration is the best-known and mostly accepted strategy. The administration of sodium bicarbonate has controversial effects, and is likely to be ineffective when the infused dose is unable to achieve adequate urine alkalinization. Since alkaline pH suppresses the production of free radicals, increasing urine pH would be an attractive goal for CIN prevention.In a prospective randomized controlled, open-label clinical trial we will test the hypothesis that urine alkalinization with either oral or intravenous bicarbonate on top of hydration alone is the main determinant of CIN prevention (primary endpoint) in a population of patients with moderate or severe chronic kidney disease scheduled for coronary angiography and/or angioplasty. If we then demonstrate nonsignificant differences in urine alkalinization and incidence of CIN between the two bicarbonate groups (secondary endpoint), a practical implication will be that oral administration is preferable for practical reasons over the administration of intravenous bicarbonate.

[SICI-GISE Position paper: Enhancing radiation safety in the catheterization laboratory]. / Position paper SICI-GISE: Miglioramento della radioprotezione nel laboratorio di Emodinamica.

The radiation dose received by interventional cardiologists during their activity in the catheterization laboratory is a matter of concern in terms of possible deterministic and stochastic risk. At the same time, very often, the knowledge of the effect and consequences of radiation exposure in the interventional cardiology community is limited. This document endorsed by the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE) provides recommendations for cardiologists' radiation protection. Radiation safety considerations dedicated to women and other staff personnel working in the catheterization laboratory are also discussed.

Acute Massive and Submassive Pulmonary Embolism: Preliminary Validation of Aspiration Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients with Contraindications to Thrombolysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of aspiration mechanical thrombectomy in patients with massive and submassive pulmonary embolism (PE) and contraindications to thrombolysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients presenting massive (8/18) or submassive (10/18) PE were prospectively enrolled between October 2016 and November 2017. All the patients enrolled had contraindications to thrombolysis (haemorrhagic stroke n = 1, ischaemic stroke in the preceding 6 months n = 7, central nervous system damage or neoplasms n = 1, recent major trauma/surgery/head injury in the preceding 3 weeks n = 5, gastrointestinal bleeding within the last month n = 4). Eight patients out of 18 (44.44%) were women and 10 (55.55%) were men, with an average age of 74.76 years (range 51-87 years). All the patients were stratified according to the PE severity index (PESI) and the simplified PESI score. RESULTS: Technical and procedural success was achieved in 18 patients (100%), as per the Society of Interventional Radiology reporting standards definition, while clinical success was achieved in 14 out of 18 patients (78%), with a significant improvement in the pre- and post-procedural right ventricular/left ventricular (RV/LV) ratio, pulmonary oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate, pulmonary artery systolic pressure and the Miller score with a consistent p value of < 0.00001, 0.01, 0.001, < 0.00001 and < 0.00001, respectively. The median days of hospitalization in the intensive care unit was 8.35 days (range 2-12), and during the follow-up, none of the patients developed pulmonary hypertension or PE recurrence. CONCLUSION: The high technical and clinical success of the procedure employed in this study suggests that aspiration mechanical thrombectomy is a promising technique when used alone. More extensive prospective studies are needed to assess the feasibility of this treatment.

The EUROpean and Chinese cardiac and renal Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Study (EURO-CRIPS CardioGroup I): A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The potential protective effects of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) on contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remain to be defined. METHODS AND RESULTS: A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled multicenter study was performed. Patients younger than 85years old, with a renal clearance of 30-60ml/min/1.73m2, who were candidates for PCI for all clinical indications except for primary PCI, were allocated 1:1 to RIPC or to standard therapy. The primary endpoint was incidence of CIN. The secondary endpoint was incidence of peri-procedural myocardial infarction (PMI). From February 2013 to April 2014, 3108 patients who were scheduled for coronary angiography were screened for the study. 442 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 223 received PCI. These patients were randomized to sham RIPC (n=107) or treatment group (n=116). The only pre-specified subgroup of diabetic patients included 85 (38%) cases. RIPC significantly reduced CIN incidence in the overall population (12.1% vs. 26.1%, p=0.01, with a NNT=9) and in non-diabetic patients (9.2% vs. 25.0%, p=0.02), but showed no benefit in diabetics (16.7% vs. 28.2%, p=0.21). A trend for lower PMI was seen in the intervention arm (creatine kinase - muscle brain >5 URL; 8.4% vs. 16.4%, p=0.07; troponin T >5 URL; 27% vs. 38%, p=0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Remote ischemic preconditioning significantly reduces the incidence of acute kidney injury in non-diabetic patients undergoing PCI. Larger sample size is presumably needed to assess the effect of RIPC for patients with diabetes mellitus. Clinical Trial number:NCT02195726https://www.clinicaltrial.gov/.

Bivalirudin or Heparin in Patients Undergoing Invasive Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes.

BACKGROUND: Contrasting evidence exists on the comparative efficacy and safety of bivalirudin and unfractionated heparin (UFH) in relation to the planned use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs). OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the efficacy and safety of bivalirudin compared with UFH with or without GPIs in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who underwent invasive management. METHODS: In the MATRIX (Minimizing Adverse Haemorrhagic Events by Transradial Access Site and Systemic Implementation of AngioX) program, 7,213 patients were randomly assigned to receive either bivalirudin or UFH with or without GPIs at discretion of the operator. The 30-day coprimary outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) (a composite of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke), and net adverse clinical events (NACEs) (a composite of MACEs or major bleeding). RESULTS: Among 3,603 patients assigned to receive UFH, 781 (21.7%) underwent planned treatment with GPI before coronary intervention. Bailout use of GPIs was similar between the bivalirudin and UFH groups (4.5% and 5.4%) (p = 0.11). At 30 days, the 2 coprimary endpoints of MACEs and NACEs, as well as individual endpoints of mortality, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis or stroke did not differ among the 3 groups after adjustment. Compared with the UFH and UFH+GPI groups, bivalirudin reduced bleeding, mainly the most severe bleeds, including fatal and nonaccess site-related events, as well as transfusion rates and the need for surgical access site repair. These findings were not influenced by the administered intraprocedural dose of UFH and were confirmed at multiple sensitivity analyses, including the randomly allocated access site. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ACS, the rates of MACEs and NACEs were not significantly lower with bivalirudin than with UFH, irrespective of planned GPI use. However, bivalirudin significantly reduced bleeding complications, mainly those not related to access site, irrespective of planned use of GPIs. (Minimizing Adverse Haemorrhagic Events by Transradial Access Site and Systemic Implementation of AngioX [MATRIX]; NCT01433627).

A Multidisciplinary Approach on the Perioperative Antithrombotic Management of Patients With Coronary Stents Undergoing Surgery: Surgery After Stenting 2.

Perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy in patients treated with coronary stents undergoing surgery remains poorly defined. Importantly, surgery represents a common reason for premature treatment discontinuation, which is associated with an increased risk in mortality and major adverse cardiac events. However, maintaining antithrombotic therapy to minimize the incidence of perioperative ischemic complications may increase the risk of bleeding complications. Although guidelines provide some recommendations with respect to the perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy, these have been largely developed according to the thrombotic risk of the patient and a definition of the hemorrhagic risk specific to each surgical procedure, key to defining the trade-off between ischemia and bleeding, is not provided. These observations underscore the need for a multidisciplinary collaboration among cardiologists, anesthesiologists, hematologists and surgeons to reach this goal. The present document is an update on practical recommendations for standardizing management of antithrombotic therapy management in patients treated with coronary stents (Surgery After Stenting 2) in various types of surgery according to the predicted individual risk of thrombotic complications against the anticipated risk of surgical bleeding complications. Cardiologists defined the thrombotic risk using a "combined ischemic risk" approach, while surgeons classified surgeries according to their inherent hemorrhagic risk. Finally, a multidisciplinary agreement on the most appropriate antithrombotic treatment regimen in the perioperative phase was reached for each surgical procedure.

[Transcatheter mitral valve repair for patients not amenable to surgical correction: epidemiology, diagnosis, equiti of access, and economic impact]. / Trattamento transcatetere dell'insufficienza mitralica per i pazienti non eleggibili all'intervento chirurgico: epidemiologia, diagnosi, equità di accesso ed impatto economico.

Mitral regurgitation is the most common valvular heart disease in western world, with moderate to severe mitral regurgitation having a deep impact on prognosis, mortality and rehospitalizations. Advanced congestive heart failure is frequently complicated by mitral regurgitation, a pathologic condition that is often under-diagnosed. A significant proportion of patients with severe mitral regurgitation is not eligible for surgery (mitral valve repair or replacement) because of contraindications or excessive surgical risk. Therefore, the need for a less invasive treatment has led to the development of endovascular techniques; among them the MitraClip system, which mimics Alfieri's edge-to-edge surgical technique introduced in 2003, has gained widespread acceptance. More than 35 000 patients have been treated using this technique. Evidence from clinical studies suggests that the MitraClip system is effective in improving survival and quality of life in patients with severe mitral regurgitation, also reducing rehospitalization rates with substantial social and economic advantages. At present, in Italy, undertreatment of patients with severe mitral regurgitation not amenable to surgical correction is still significantly high, and remarkable inhomogeneity among regions is observed in the availability of the MitraClip procedure.

[SICI-GISE Position paper: Use of Absorb BVS in clinical practice]. / Documento di posizione SICI-GISE: Utilizzo di Absorb BVS nella pratica clinica.

Drug-eluting stents (DES) are the current gold standard for percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease. However, DES are associated with a non-negligible risk of long-term adverse events related to persistence of foreign material in the coronary artery wall. In addition, DES implantation causes permanent caging of the native vessel, thus impairing normal vasomotricity and the possibility of using non-invasive coronary imaging or preforming subsequent bypass surgery. On the contrary, coronary bioresorbable stents (BRS) may provide temporary mechanical support to coronary wall without compromising the subsequent recovery of normal vascular physiology, and have the potential to prevent late adverse events related to permanent elements. Several types of BRS have been introduced into clinical practice in Europe or are being tested. However, most of available clinical data relate to a single BRS, the Absorb bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (Absorb BVS) (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA). Despite encouraging clinical results, no societal guidelines are available on the use of BRS in clinical practice.A panel of Italian expert cardiologists assembled under the auspices of the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE) for comprehensive discussion and consensus development, with the aim to provide recommendations on the use of bioresorbable stents in terms of clinical indications, procedural aspects, post-percutaneous coronary angioplasty pharmacologic treatment and follow-up. Based on current evidence and BRS availability in Italian cath-labs, the panel decided unanimously to provide specific recommendations for the Absorb BVS device. These recommendations do not necessarily extend to other BRS, unless specified, although significant overlap may exist with Absorb BVS, particularly in terms of clinical rationale.

Impact of oral P2Y12 inhibitors on residual thrombus burden and reperfusion indexes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

AIMS: We sought to assess the impact of different oral P2Y12 receptor inhibitors on residual thrombus and reperfusion indexes in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients enrolled in the COCTAIL II trial, which included 128 primary percutaneous coronary interventions randomized to intracoronary vs. intralesion abciximab bolus with or without thrombectomy. METHODS: Patients were divided into three groups: clopidogrel (n = 44), prasugrel (n = 45) and ticagrelor (n = 39). Residual intra-stent thrombus was quantified by optical coherence tomography using both the number of cross-sections with thrombus area more than 10% and thrombus volume. Reperfusion indexes included thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow, corrected TIMI frame count, myocardial blush grade (MBG) and complete ST-segment resolution (≥70%). RESULTS: In the prasugrel group, optical coherence tomography depicted a lower percentage of cross-sections with residual thrombus area more than 10% [4.0 (1.0-8.5)], as compared with clopidogrel [8.0 (1.0-15.0), P = 0.011] and ticagrelor [7.0 (3.0-13.5), P = 0.026].A higher thrombus volume was found in the clopidogrel group 4.0 mm(2.7-6.2) as compared with the prasugrel group [2.8 mm(1.8-4.4), P = 0.023], whereas the other between-group comparisons yield no significant differences. The frequency of MBG 3 was higher in the prasugrel group (73.3%) as compared with clopidogrel (45.5%) and ticagrelor [(56.4%), P = 0.027]. Final TIMI flow, TIMI frame count and ST resolution were not significantly different across the three groups (P = 0.423, 0.179 and 0.848, respectively). At multivariate analysis, pretreatment with prasugrel was independently associated with MBG 3 (odds ratio = 3.93; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-15.39). CONCLUSION: Prasugrel loading dose was associated with a lower percentage of cross-sections with residual thrombus area more than 10% as compared with both clopidogrel and ticagrelor, although intrastent thrombus volume was not significantly different between prasugrel and ticagrelor.The frequency of MBG 3 was the only reperfusion index that was significantly more prevalent in prasugrel treated group as compared with clopidogrel and ticagrelor groups.

[Myocardial infarction as the first manifestation of an atrial myxoma: the bomb in the heart. Case report and literature review]. / Infarto miocardico come prima manifestazione di un mixoma atriale: la bomba nel cuore. Caso clinico e revisione della letteratura.

Atrial myxoma is a cardiac tumor often histologically benign but very insidious for its mechanical complications. Among these, myocardial infarction can be an expression of coronary embolism. Imaging techniques are essential for the diagnosis and the therapeutic steps. We describe the clinical case of a 52-year-old woman with acute myocardial infarction and normal coronary arteries with left atrial myxoma. We conducted a review of published case reports over the last 45 years on the rare association between atrial myxoma and acute myocardial infarction, to obtain pathogenic and epidemiological information from the real world.

[An unexpected culprit lesion: subclavian artery stenosis]. / Una inaspettata "culprit lesion" di infarto: la stenosi dell'arteria succlavia.

After non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, a 61-year-old woman underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with left internal mammary artery (LIMA) to left anterior descending artery combined with saphenous vein grafts to the second obtuse marginal branch and the right coronary artery. At age 79, she was admitted for anterior non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Echocardiography showed hypokinesia of the left anterior descending territory. From the left radial approach the LIMA graft was patent, but a critical stenosis of the proximal subclavian artery was diagnosed and treated with stenting. The coronary subclavian steal syndrome usually presents with effort angina but has rarely been reported as a cause of myocardial infarction. A coronary steal syndrome should be suspected in patients with internal mammary artery bypass with recurrence of angina but also in case of acute coronary syndrome. When stable angina is present, a computed tomography scan of the bypass and subclavian artery may allow diagnosis before coronary angiography. In case of urgent coronary angiography and undetectable culprit lesions, selective angiography of the subclavian artery may confirm the suspicion of the coronary steal syndrome.

Radial versus femoral access in patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing invasive management: a randomised multicentre trial.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether radial compared with femoral access improves outcomes in unselected patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing invasive management. METHODS: We did a randomised, multicentre, superiority trial comparing transradial against transfemoral access in patients with acute coronary syndrome with or without ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who were about to undergo coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were randomly allocated (1:1) to radial or femoral access with a web-based system. The randomisation sequence was computer generated, blocked, and stratified by use of ticagrelor or prasugrel, type of acute coronary syndrome (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, troponin positive or negative, non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome), and anticipated use of immediate percutaneous coronary intervention. Outcome assessors were masked to treatment allocation. The 30-day coprimary outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events, defined as death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, and net adverse clinical events, defined as major adverse cardiovascular events or Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) major bleeding unrelated to coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The analysis was by intention to treat. The two-sided α was prespecified at 0·025. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01433627. FINDINGS: We randomly assigned 8404 patients with acute coronary syndrome, with or without ST-segment elevation, to radial (4197) or femoral (4207) access for coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention. 369 (8·8%) patients with radial access had major adverse cardiovascular events, compared with 429 (10·3%) patients with femoral access (rate ratio [RR] 0·85, 95% CI 0·74-0·99; p=0·0307), non-significant at α of 0·025. 410 (9·8%) patients with radial access had net adverse clinical events compared with 486 (11·7%) patients with femoral access (0·83, 95% CI 0·73-0·96; p=0·0092). The difference was driven by BARC major bleeding unrelated to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (1·6% vs 2·3%, RR 0·67, 95% CI 0·49-0·92; p=0·013) and all-cause mortality (1·6% vs 2·2%, RR 0·72, 95% CI 0·53-0·99; p=0·045). INTERPRETATION: In patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing invasive management, radial as compared with femoral access reduces net adverse clinical events, through a reduction in major bleeding and all-cause mortality. FUNDING: The Medicines Company and Terumo.