Safety and Efficacy of a Hybrid Approach Combining a Paclitaxel-Coated Balloon With a New Generation Drug-Eluting Stent in Patients With De Novo True Coronary Bifurcation Lesions.

BACKGROUND: The use of drug-coated balloon in the management of true bifurcation lesions appears to be an attractive option to reduce the rate of stent thrombosis and restenosis particularly at the level of the side branch ostium. We aim to assess the safety and the efficacy of a hybrid approach combining a drug-eluting stent in the main branch and a drug-coated balloon to treat the side branch ostium in patients with de novo true bifurcation. METHODS: From September 2020 to March 2022, 45 patients with a de novo true bifurcation lesion Medina (1.1.1) or Medina (0.1.1) were enrolled. All patients underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention with the hybrid approach. Clinical assessment with functional stress imaging test was scheduled at 6 months. In case of documented ischemia, coronary angiography was performed. The primary endpoint was the composite of target lesion failure at 6 months including cardiac death, target vessel MI or ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization. The secondary endpoints were technical success, defined by performing the percutaneous coronary intervention without an additional drug-eluting stent at the level of the side branch ostium, and clinical success, defined by a technical success associated with the absence of severe complications during in-hospital phase. RESULTS: The immediate results show a technical success of the procedure in the majority of cases (88.9 %) with a low rate of bailout side branch stenting (11.1 %). The clinical success was obtained in 86.7 % and only one patient experienced a severe in-hospital complication. A side branch ostial lesion length > 10 mm was the only independent predictor of clinical failure of the procedure (OR 12.49, 95 % CI 1.17-133.6; p = 0.037). At 6 months, the TLF was low and occurred in 1 patient (2.2 %). No cardiac death was observed. No TVMI was observed. Importantly, at 6 months, no side branch thrombosis was observed. CONCLUSION: The use of a hybrid approach combining a drug-eluting stent in the main branch and a drug-coated balloon in the side branch to treat true bifurcation lesions appears to be safe and efficient with few immediate complications and with satisfactory results at mid-term follow up.

Sudden Cardiac Death Following Thrombolysis in a Young Woman with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a well-known cause of acute coronary syndrome. ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the most common presentation of SCAD, which can be complicated by sudden cardiac death (SCD). Conservative management is the cornerstone of treatment except in case of ongoing ischemia or large myocardial compromise. CASE REPORT A 34-year-old woman presented with an anterior STEMI, diagnosed by the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) team, which performed fibrinolysis. SCD resulting from ventricular fibrillation occurred soon after thrombolysis was started. Her pulsed was palpable following defibrillation, and she was immediately intubated. A coronary angiogram (CA) showed total occlusion with dye staining contrast of the proximal left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. Echocardiogram showed a severe drop in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF 20%). She was treated with dobutamine and intra-aortic balloon pump implantation because of her poor hemodynamic status. Rescue angioplasty was performed with a drug-eluting stent implanted from the left main stem toward the proximal LAD. However, she developed hemorrhagic shock due to active liver bleeding that was surgically treated. At 3 months, she was asymptomatic, her LVEF had improved (45%), and elective CA showed quite normal coronary arteries. Optical coherence tomography showed residual hematoma as "lunar crescent" and stent under-expansion. The latter was fixed by post-dilatations. CONCLUSIONS Our case adds to the evidence that thrombolysis leads to poor outcomes in patients with SCAD, as reported in numerous reports. OCT was used to confirm, a posteriori, the diagnosis of SCAD. Rescue angioplasty was necessary in our patient due to poor hemodynamic status following unsuccessful fibrinolysis.

Pharmacoinvasive Strategy Versus Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Patients ≥70 Years of Age.

The benefit-risk ratio of a pharmacoinvasive strategy (PI) in patients ≥70 years of age with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains uncertain resulting in its limited use in this population. This study compared efficacy and safety of PI with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Data from 2,841 patients (mean age: 78.1 ± 5.6 years, female: 36.1%) included in a prospective multicenter registry, and who underwent either PI (n = 269) or pPCI (n = 2,572), were analyzed. The primary end point was in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as the composite of all-cause mortality, nonfatal MI, stroke, and definite stent thrombosis. Secondary end points included all-cause death, major bleeding, net adverse clinical events, and the development of in-hospital Killip class III or IV heart failure. Propensity-score matching and conditional logistic regression were used to adjust for confounders. Within the matched cohort, rates of MACE was not statistically different between the PI (n = 247) and pPCI (n = 958) groups, (11.3% vs 9.0%, respectively, odds ratio 1.25, 95% confidence interval 0.81 to 1.94; p = 0.31). Secondary end points were comparable between groups at the exception of a lower rate of development of Killip class III or IV heart failure after PI. The rate of intracranial hemorrhage was significantly higher in the PI group (2.3% vs 0.0%, p = 0.03). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated no difference regarding in-hospital MACE following PI or pPCI in STEMI patients ≥70 years of age. An adequately-powered randomized trial is needed to precisely define the role of PI in this high-risk subgroup.

Spontaneous coronary artery wall haematoma: success of conservative management despite alarming extension: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a particular mode of presentation of acute coronary syndrome. It preferentially affects the young woman with little or no classical risk factor for atheromatous disease. CASE SUMMARY: In this report, we present a classical non-ST-segment myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) condition in link with a spontaneous coronary artery wall haematoma. A 43-year-old female patient who did not have any risk factors for atheromatous disease presented with NSTEMI. The coronary angiogram (CA) revealed a moderate smooth stenosis of the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) that ended just before the take-off of a septal branch. Intracoronary imaging by optical coherence tomography (OCT) visualized a large intramural haematoma reducing the coronary artery lumen. The patient was managed conservatively with antithrombotic regimen, nitrates, and close monitoring with repeated CA. Evolution was favourable despite striking extension of coronary haematoma towards distal LAD. She was then discharged and has been asymptomatic on follow-up visits. Planned repeat CA and OCT at 3 months showed a quite normal coronary artery appearance of the LAD with significant regression of haematoma. DISCUSSION: Precise data regarding SCAD epidemiology remains to be determined. The angiographic pattern of our case recalls the Type 2 described by Saw team. But OCT was necessary to confirm the diagnosis. We manage our patient conservatively with close monitoring, as largely suggested by current state of the art, regarding the good haemodynamic status, and absence of ongoing ischaemia despite an evolution severe stenosis.

Predicting the development of in-hospital cardiogenic shock in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention: the ORBI risk score.

Aims: To derive and validate a readily useable risk score to identify patients at high-risk of in-hospital ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)-related cardiogenic shock (CS). Methods and results: In all, 6838 patients without CS on admission and treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI), included in the Observatoire Régional Breton sur l'Infarctus (ORBI), served as a derivation cohort, and 2208 patients included in the obseRvatoire des Infarctus de Côte-d'Or (RICO) constituted the external validation cohort. Stepwise multivariable logistic regression was used to build the score. Eleven variables were independently associated with the development of in-hospital CS: age >70 years, prior stroke/transient ischaemic attack, cardiac arrest upon admission, anterior STEMI, first medical contact-to-pPCI delay >90 min, Killip class, heart rate >90/min, a combination of systolic blood pressure <125 mmHg and pulse pressure <45 mmHg, glycaemia >10 mmol/L, culprit lesion of the left main coronary artery, and post-pPCI thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow grade <3. The score derived from these variables allowed the classification of patients into four risk categories: low (0-7), low-to-intermediate (8-10), intermediate-to-high (11-12), and high (≥13). Observed in-hospital CS rates were 1.3%, 6.6%, 11.7%, and 31.8%, across the four risk categories, respectively. Validation in the RICO cohort demonstrated in-hospital CS rates of 3.1% (score 0-7), 10.6% (score 8-10), 18.1% (score 11-12), and 34.1% (score ≥13). The score demonstrated high discrimination (c-statistic of 0.84 in the derivation cohort, 0.80 in the validation cohort) and adequate calibration in both cohorts. Conclusion: The ORBI risk score provides a readily useable and efficient tool to identify patients at high-risk of developing CS during hospitalization following STEMI, which may aid in further risk-stratification and thus potentially facilitate pre-emptive clinical decision making.

Efficacy and safety of prehospital administration of unfractionated heparin, enoxaparin or bivalirudin in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: Insights from the ORBI registry.

BACKGROUND: Despite numerous studies in recent years, the best anticoagulant option for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a matter of debate. AIMS: To compare in-hospital outcomes after prehospital administration of low-dose unfractionated heparin (UFH)±glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs), enoxaparin±GPIs, or bivalirudin in patients undergoing primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: A total of 1720 patients (median age 62.0 years, 79.2% male) who had been enrolled in a prospective registry and received an injectable anticoagulant in physician-staffed mobile intensive care units before primary PCI were included in the study. The main outcomes were in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (a composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke or definite stent thrombosis) and in-hospital major bleeding (Bleeding academic research consortium type 3 or 5). RESULTS: UFH was administered in 420 (24.4%) patients, enoxaparin in 1163 (67.6%) patients and bivalirudin in 137 patients (8.0%). Rates of in-hospital MACE were 7.4% with UFH, 6.0% with enoxaparin and 6.6% with bivalirudin, with no significant differences between groups (P=0.628). In-hospital major bleeding occurred in 1.7% of patients on UFH, 1.4% on enoxaparin and 1.5% on bivalirudin (P=0.851). By multivariable analysis, the prehospital anticoagulant used was not an independent predictor of MACE or major bleeding. CONCLUSION: In this prospective registry, there were no significant differences in the rates of in-hospital MACE or major bleeding after prehospital initiation of UFH, enoxaparin or bivalirudin in patients treated by primary PCI for STEMI.