Catheterization laboratory activity before and during COVID-19 spread: A comparative analysis in Piedmont, Italy, by the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (GISE).

BACKGROUND: COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) led to the reorganization of Cardiology Units in terms of working spaces and healthcare personnel. In this scenario, both outpatient visits and elective interventional cardiology procedures were suspended and/or postponed. We aimed to report the impact of COVID-19 on interventional coronary and structural procedures in Piedmont, Italy. METHODS: The number of coronary angiographies (CAG), percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), primary PCI (pPCI), transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) and Mitraclip performed in Piedmont between March 1st and April 20th, 2020 (CoV-time) were collected from each catheterization laboratory and compared to the number of procedures performed the year before in the same months (NoCoV-time). RESULTS: Procedural data from 18 catheterization laboratories were collected. Both coronary (5498 versus 2888: difference: -47.5%; mean 305.4 VS 160.4; p = 0.002) and structural (84 versus 17: difference: -79.8%; mean 4.7 Vs 0.9; p < 0.001) procedures decreased during CoV-time compared to NoCoV-time. In particular, coronary angiographies (1782 versus 3460), PCI (1074 versus 1983), p PCI (271 versus 410), TAVR (11 versus 72) and Mitraclip (6 versus 12) showed a reduction of 48.5%, 45.7%, 33.7%, 84.7% and 50.0%, respectively (all p for comparison <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the same time-period in 2019, both coronary and structural interventional procedures during COVID-19 epidemic suffered a dramatic decrease in Piedmont, Italy. Organizational change and structured clinical pathways should be created, together with awareness campaigns.

Real-World Experience With a Tapered Biodegradable Polymer-Coated Sirolimus-Eluting Stent in Patients With Long Coronary Artery Stenoses.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of long coronary stenoses (LCS) with long tapered drug-eluting stents (LT-DES) would offer clinical and economic benefits. However, the feasibility of an interventional strategy based upon the systematic LCS treatment with an LT-DES has not been evaluated so far. METHODS: We performed a multicenter prospective study including consecutive patients with: 1) An LCS > 25 mm at coronary angiography; 2) An attempt to fix the LCS with a single BioMime Morph™ stent, a novel LT-DES available from 30 to 60 mm long. The primary efficacy endpoint was procedural success. The secondary safety endpoints were post-procedural TIMI3 flow, stent detachment during delivery, acute stent thrombosis and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: From February 2017 to March 2018, we recorded 272 patients with an LCS and an attempt to deploy an LT-DES during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (69.3 ± 11.4 years, 75.7% males, 25.7% diabetic and 43.8% with acute coronary syndromes, mean LCS length 48.8 ± 9.5 mm). LT-DES deployment was successful in 262 patients (96.3%), and failure occurred without stent detachment or other complications. Final TIMI3 flow was present in 270 (99.3%) patients. In-hospital death occurred in five patients (1.8%), with no case of acute stent thrombosis, recurrent myocardial infarction or repeated revascularization. CONCLUSION: In this real-world study, a strategy of fixing LCS with a single LT-DES was feasible and safe, with a high rate of procedural success and a low rate of in-hospital complications. More extensive randomized studies are warranted to assess the potential clinical and economic benefits of LT-DES.

Pre-hospital ticagrelor in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with long transport time to primary PCI facility.

BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital ticagrelor, given less than 1h before coronary intervention (PCI), failed to improve coronary reperfusion in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary PCI. It is unknown whether a longer interval from ticagrelor administration to primary PCI might reveal any improvement of coronary reperfusion. METHODS: We retrospectively compared 143 patients, pre-treated in spoke centers or ambulance with ticagrelor at least 1.5h before PCI (Pre-treatment Group), with 143 propensity score-matched controls treated with ticagrelor in the hub before primary PCI (Control Group) extracted from RENOVAMI, a large observational Italian registry of more than 1400 STEMI patients enrolled from Jan. 2012 to Oct. 2015 (ClinicalTrials.gov id: NCT01347580). The median time from ticagrelor administration and PCI was 2.08h (95% CI 1.66-2.84) in the Pre-treatment Group and 0.56h (95% CI 0.33-0.76) in the Control Group. TIMI flow grade before primary PCI in the infarct related artery was the primary endpoint. RESULTS: The primary endpoint, baseline TIMI flow grade, was significantly higher in Pre-treatment Group (0.88±1.14 vs 0.53±0.86, P=0.02). However in-hospital mortality, in-hospital stent thrombosis, bleeding rates and other clinical and angiographic outcomes were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In a real world STEMI network, pre-treatment with ticagrelor in spoke hospitals or in ambulance loading at least 1.5h before primary PCI is safe and might improve pre-PCI coronary reperfusion, in comparison with ticagrelor administration immediately before PCI.