Predictors of 30-day and 12-month mortality in left main stem percutaneous coronary intervention 2016-2020: A study from two UK centers.

INTRODUCTION: Left main stem percutaneous coronary intervention (LMS-PCI) is a complex high-risk procedure which can be performed as an alternative to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure in surgical turn-down patients or where there is equipoise in percutaneous versus surgical strategies. Current guidelines suggest that PCI is an appropriate alternative to CABG in patients with unprotected LMS disease and low SYNTAX score. However, "real world" data on outcomes of LMS-PCI remain limited. This study aims to quantify and determine predictors of mortality following LMS-PCI. METHODS: Using local coronary angioplasty registries from two UK centers, all LMS-PCI cases were identified from 2016 to 2020. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the association between baseline and procedural characteristics with 30-day and 12-month mortality. RESULTS: We identified 484 cases of LMS-PCI between 2016 and 2020. There was a year-on-year increase in the number of LMS-PCI, the highest being in 2020. Covariates associated with higher 30-day mortality were age (OR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.12) and shock preprocedure (OR 23.88, 95% CI: 7.90-72.20). Covariates associated with higher 12-month mortality were age (OR 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.08), acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (OR 2.50, 95% CI: 1.08-5.80), renal disease (OR 5.24, 95% CI: 1.47-18.68), and shock preprocedure (OR 7.93, 95% CI: 3.30-19.05). Overall, 30-day and 12-month mortality in this contemporary data set were 9.5% and 16.7%, respectively, with significantly lower rates in elective cases (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Older age and cardiogenic shock preprocedure were associated with increased 30-day mortality after LMS-PCI. Twelve-month mortality was associated with older age, ACS presentation, preexisting renal disease, and cardiogenic shock preprocedure.

Endoscopy findings in patients on dual antiplatelet therapy following percutaneous coronary intervention.

PURPOSE OF STUDY: This study examines the associations between dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB), to explore possible predictors of outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 3342 patients who underwent PCI between 1 August 2011 and 31 December 2018 in a single centre was carried out. Oesophagogastroduodenoscopies (OGDs) for patients 12 months post-PCI were analysed. RESULTS: Blood loss occurred in 2% of all (3342) patients post-PCI within 12 months. 128 patients (63% male, mean age (SD) of 69.8 (10) years) who had PCI subsequently underwent an OGD within 12 months of the index PCI procedure. GIB occurred within the first 30 days of DAPT in 36% (n=13/36) of cases. There were no thrombotic events associated with cessation of one antiplatelet agent. Increased age, haemoglobin (Hb) ≤109 g/L and Glasgow-Blatchford score ≥8 were associated with increased 12-month mortality. An Hb drop of ≥30 g/L was a sensitive and specific marker for significant pathology and evidence of bleeding on OGD (sensitivity=0.83, specificity=0.81). CONCLUSIONS: GIB bleeding occurred infrequently in the patients post-PCI on DAPT. Risk assessment scores (such as Glasgow-Blatchford and Rockall scores) are useful tools to assess the urgency of OGD and need for endoscopic therapy.

Femoral Access PCI in a Default Radial Center Identifies High-Risk Patients With Poor Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Increasingly the trans-radial route (TRR) is preferred over the trans-femoral route (TFR) for PCI. However, even in high volume default TRR centers a cohort of patients undergo TFR PCI. We examined the demographics, procedural characteristics, and outcomes of patients undergoing PCI via the TF. METHODS: The patient demographics, procedural data, and outcomes of 5,379 consecutive patients undergoing PCI at a default radial center between 2009 and 2012 were examined. Major bleeding (MB) was classified by ACUITY and BARC definitions. RESULTS: A total of 559 (10.4%) patients underwent PCI via the TFR and 4,820 patients via the TRR (89.6%). Baseline variables associated with TFR were shock, previous CABG, chronic total occlusion intervention, rotablation/laser use, female sex, and renal failure. Sixty-five patients of the TFR cohort (11.6%) experienced MB with 27 (41.5%) being access site related. MB was significantly more frequent than in the radial cohort. The variables independently associated with MB in the TFR cohort were renal failure, acute presentation, shock, and age. In the TFR, patients with MB mortality was high at 30 days (17.2% vs 2.6% for no MB, P < 0.0001) and at 1 year (37.6% vs 5.0%, P < 0.0001). Shock and MB were highly predictive of 30 day and 12 month mortality. CONCLUSION: In a default radial PCI center 10% of patients undergo PCI via the femoral artery. These patients have high baseline bleeding risk and undergo complex interventions. As a result the incidence of major bleeding, transfusion and death are high. Alternative strategies are required to optimize outcomes in this select group.

Saphenous vein graft percutaneous coronary intervention via radial artery access: safe and effective with reduced hospital length of stay.

BACKGROUND: Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) via radial artery access confers many advantages over the femoral artery, PCI to saphenous vein grafts (SVG) is commonly performed via the femoral route. We compared outcomes in patients undergoing SVG PCI from the radial and femoral routes. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent SVG PCI between January 2006 and December 2010 in 2 large interventional centers in the United Kingdom. All radial and femoral operators selected for this analysis performed high-volume (>200 PCIs per year) procedures via either vascular route. RESULTS: Of 305 patients (260 males) who underwent SVG PCI, 208 (68.2%) had the procedure completed from the femoral route and 97 (32.8%) radially. There was no difference between groups in fluoroscopy time (femoral vs radial 1095 vs 1125 seconds, P nonsgnificant), but radiation doses were greater (43.87 ± 2.83 Gy/cm(2) vs 56.92 ± 4.52 Gy/cm(2), P = .012) as was body mass index in the radial group (27.99 ± 0.33 vs 29.05 ± 0.42, P = .048). Three femoral access patients had vascular access complications, whereas the radial route group had none. There were no differences in no flow/slow flow (femoral 3.86% vs radial 2.54%, P nonsignificant). The mean length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the radial access cohort (1.09 vs 2.09 days, P < .001). Three patients converted from radial to femoral artery, whereas one converted from femoral to radial after technical failure to complete the procedure. CONCLUSION: Saphenous vein graft PCI can be safely and effectively performed via radial artery access with comparable fluoroscopy times but not radiation doses. Of clinical significance, use of the radial artery access was associated with decreased hospital stay and arterial complications. These data suggest that a routine radial approach for SVG PCI is feasible and could offer clinical and economic benefits.

Outcomes following PCI in patients with previous CABG: a multi centre experience.

BACKGROUND: Limited data is available to guide operators as to the optimal revascularisation strategy in patients with previous CABG representing with angina. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of 161 patients with prior CABG undergoing PCI in two centres between September 2005 and April 2008. RESULTS: 161 patients (132 male, 68 ± 8 years) underwent PCI at 126 ± 65 months after index CABG. Clinical presentation of recurrent ischaemia was stable in 59.7% and as an acute coronary syndrome in 40.3% of patients. Mean follow-up after PCI was 13.5 ± 4.8 months. About 62.7% of patients underwent native vessel PCI, 32.9% had a graft only PCI, and 4.4% having a combination of both. Drug eluting stents were used in 84.9% of cases. There was one cardiac death and one case of redo CABG during follow-up. Mean CCS angina class decreased from 2.87 to 0.67 (P < 0.0001) in the follow-up group. About 13.6 % of all patients had a MACE at follow up. This was higher in the graft PCI group (21.6% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.048). About 12.4% of the total cohort underwent repeat PCI although 30% of these required PCI for a de-novo lesion. TVR rate was significantly higher in patients undergoing graft PCI than native vessel PCI (15% vs. 4.9%, P = 0.031). Graft PCI was an independent predictor (HR 3.73, 1.27-10.87 [95%CI], P = 0.016) of MACE in these patients. CONCLUSION: PCI significantly improved angina in these patients with low overall rates of TVR. However TVR rate was significantly higher in patients undergoing graft PCI than those undergoing native vessel PCI.

Direct vasoactive properties of thienopyridine-derived nitrosothiols.

Thienopyridines (ticlopidine, clopidogrel, and prasugrel) require in vivo metabolism to exhibit a critical thiol group in the active form that binds to the P2Y12 platelet receptor to inhibit platelet activation. We hypothesized that formation of thienopyridine-derived nitrosothiols (ticlopidine-SNO, clopidogrel-SNO, and prasugrel-SNO) occurs directly from the respective parent drug. Pharmaceutical-grade thienopyridine (ticlopidine, clopidogrel chloride, clopidogrel sulfate, clopidogrel besylate, or prasugrel) was added to nitrite in aqueous solution to form the respective thienopyridine-SNO (Th-SNO). An isolated aortic ring preparation was used to test vasoactivity of the Th-SNO derivatives. Increasing nitrite availability resulted in increased Th-SNO formation for all drugs (other than ticlopidine). Th-SNO induced significant endothelium-independent relaxation of preconstricted aortic rings. Clopidogrel-chloride-SNO displayed rapid-release kinetics in a chemical environment, which was reflected by immediate and transient vasorelaxation when compared with the SNO derivatives of the other thienopyridines. Accounting for differences in yield, clopidogrel-chloride-SNO exhibited the greatest propensity to immediately relax vascular tissue. Th-SNO derivatives exhibit nitrovasodilator properties by supplying NO that can directly activate vascular soluble guanylate cyclase to induce vasorelaxation. Differences in SNO yield and vasoactivity exist between thienopyridine preparations that might be important to our understanding of the direct pharmacological effectiveness of thienopyridines on vascular and platelet function.

Switching from transfemoral to transradial access for PCI: a single-center learning curve over 5 years.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) via the transradial (TR) route is an increasingly popular alternative to the transfemoral (TF) route. However, there are limiting factors to its adoption. We report the learning curve over 5 years in a high-volume PCI center during the crossover from TF to TR access for PCI. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical characteristics, radiation doses, screening times, and subsequent clinical outcomes in subjects with femoral and radial access sites for PCI. DESIGN: We retrospectively analyzed our databases for PCI procedures/outcomes of all patients from 2006-2010. SETTING: A university teaching hospital PCI center performing cases predominantly femorally at the beginning of the study period, and transitioning to a predominantly radial access center at the end of the study period. PATIENTS: All patients undergoing PCI via either femoral or radial approach over a 5-year period. RESULTS: In year 1, TR access was used in 31.4% of cases; this rate increased to 90.1% in year 5. The switch from TF to TR access was observed among all operators and all groups of patients regardless of presentation, gender, age, and lesion complexity. In year 1, fluoroscopy times and radiation doses were higher in the TR group, but equalized in years 2 and 3 and reversed during years 4 and 5 when the TR rate was >90%. Over 5 years, the rates of vascular complications and major bleeding were higher in the TF cohort and were associated with longer hospital stay. In-hospital mortality was lower in the TR group. CONCLUSION: The change from TF to TR approach for PCI in a high-volume center is achievable within 5 years, and results in marked clinical benefits. There was an initial learning curve for fluoroscopy time and radiation dose, but this improved once an operator performed >60% of cases radially.

Direct formation of thienopyridine-derived nitrosothiols--just add nitrite!

Thienopyridines (ticlopidine, clopidogrel and prasugrel) are pro-drugs that require metabolism to exhibit a critical thiol group in the active form that binds to the P2Y12 receptor to inhibit platelet activation and prevent thrombus formation in vivo. We investigated whether these thienopyridines participate in S-nitrosation (SNO) reactions that might exhibit direct anti-platelet behaviour. Optimum conditions for in vitro formation of thienopyridine-SNO formation were studied by crushing ticlopidine, clopidogrel or prasugrel into aqueous solution and adding sodium nitrite, or albumin-SNO. Ozone-based chemiluminescence techniques were utilised to specifically detect NO release from the SNO produced. Effect on agonist-induced platelet aggregation was monitored using light transmittance in a 96 well microplate assay. Pharmaceutical grade preparations of ticlopidine, clopidogrel and prasugrel were found to exhibit significant free thiol and formed SNO derivatives directly from anionic nitrite in water under laboratory conditions without the need for prior metabolism. Thienopyridine-SNO formation was dependent on pH, duration of mixing and nitrite concentration, with prasugrel-SNO being more favourably formed. The SNO moiety readily participated in trans-nitrosation reactions with albumin and plasma. Prasugrel-SNO showed significantly better inhibition of platelet aggregation compared with clopidogrel-SNO, however when compared on the basis of SNO concentration these were equally effective (IC50=7.91 ± 1.03 v/s 10.56 ± 1.43 µM, ns). Thienopyridine-derived SNO is formed directly from the respective base drug without the need for prior in vivo metabolism and therefore may be an important additional contributor to the pharmacological effectiveness of thienopyridines not previously considered.

Extended duration of brachially inserted intra-aortic balloon pump for myocardial protection in two patients undergoing urgent coronary artery bypass grafting.

Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) provides myocardial protection for patients who are at risk of myocardial injury during cardiac surgery. The haemodynamic support is crucial in patients with significant and critical coronary artery disease undergoing revascularisation procedures. Traditionally, the femoral arterial access is the preferred route for IABP insertion. This is, however, not always feasible especially in patients with concomitant occlusive peripheral vascular disease. The trans-brachial route can be used as an alternative for percutaneous insertion of the IABP. We report the technique for left trans-brachial insertion of an IABP, and illustrate our experience with two patients requiring urgent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and for whom the IABP duration was over 50 h.