Gender differences in the development of heart failure after acute coronary syndrome: Insight from the CORALYS registry.

BACKGROUND: Impact of gender on heart remodeling after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and consequently on development of heart failure (HF) remains to be elucidated. METHODS: CORALYS is a multicenter, retrospective, observational registry enrolling consecutive patients admitted for ACS and treated with percutaneous coronary intervention. HF hospitalization was the primary endpoint while all-cause mortality and the composite endpoint of incidence of first HF hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality were the secondary ones. RESULTS: Among 14,699 patients enrolled in CORALYS registry, 4578 (31%) were women and 10,121 (69%) males. Women were older, had more frequently hypertension and diabetes and less frequently smoking habit. History of myocardial infarction (MI), STEMI at admission and multivessel disease were less common in women. After median follow up of 2.9 ± 1.8 years, women had higher incidence of primary and secondary endpoints and female sex was an independent predictor of HF hospitalization (HR 1.26;1.05-1.50; p = 0.011) and cardiovascular death/HF hospitalization (HR 1.18;1.02-1.37; p = 0.022). At multivariable analysis women and men share as predictors of HF diabetes, history of cancer, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, complete revascularization and left ventricular ejection fraction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 2.34;1.70-3.22, p < 0.001) and diuretics treatment (HR 1.61;1.27-2.04, p < 0.001) were predictor of HF in men, while history of previous MI (HR 1.46;1.08-1.97, p = 0.015) and treatment with inhibitors of renin-angiotensin system (HR 0.69;0,49-0.96 all 95% CI, p = 0.030) in women. CONCLUSIONS: Women are at increased risk of HF after ACS and gender seems to be an outcome-modifier of the relationship between a variable and primary outcome.

Forecasting the Risk of Heart Failure Hospitalization After Acute Coronary Syndromes: the CORALYS HF Score.

The present study aimed to identify patients at a higher risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) in a population of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated with percutaneous coronary revascularization without a history of HF or reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction before the index admission. We performed a Cox regression multivariable analysis with competitive risk and machine learning models on the incideNce and predictOrs of heaRt fAiLure After Acute coronarY Syndrome (CORALYS) registry (NCT04895176), an international and multicenter study including consecutive patients admitted for ACS in 16 European Centers from 2015 to 2020. Of 14,699 patients, 593 (4.0%) were admitted for the development of HF up to 1 year after the index ACS presentation. A total of 2 different data sets were randomly created, 1 for the derivative cohort including 11,626 patients (80%) and 1 for the validation cohort including 3,073 patients (20%). On the Cox regression multivariable analysis, several variables were associated with the risk of HF hospitalization, with reduced renal function, complete revascularization, and LV ejection fraction as the most relevant ones. The area under the curve at 1 year was 0.75 (0.72 to 0.78) in the derivative cohort, whereas on validation, it was 0.72 (0.67 to 0.77). The machine learning analysis showed a slightly inferior performance. In conclusion, in a large cohort of patients with ACS without a history of HF or LV dysfunction before the index event, the CORALYS HF score identified patients at a higher risk of hospitalization for HF using variables easily accessible at discharge. Further approaches to tackle HF development in this high-risk subset of patients are needed.

Impact of diabetes on long-term outcomes of bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention. An analysis from the BIFURCAT registry.

BACKGROUND: It is still unclear the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) in complex coronary lesions treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) which themselves are at increased incidence of adverse events. METHODS: BIFURCAT registry encompassed patients treated with PCI for coronary bifurcation lesion from the COBIS III and the RAIN registry. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of major cardiovascular adverse event (MACE), a composite and mutual exclusive of all-cause death or myocardial infarction (MI) or target-lesion revascularization (TLR). A total of 5537 patients were included in the analysis and 1834 (33%) suffered from DM. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 21 months, diabetic patients had a higher incidence of MACE (17% vs. 9%, p < 0.001), all-cause mortality (9% vs. 4%, p < 0.001), TLR (5% vs. 3%, p = 0.001), MI (4% vs. 2%, p < 0.001), and stent thrombosis (ST) (2% vs. 1%, p = 0.007). After multivariate analysis, diabetes remained significantly associated with MACE (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.37; confidence interval [CI]: 1.13-1.65; p = 0.001), all-cause death (HR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.24-2.19, p = 0.001), TLR (HR: 1.45; CI: 1.03-2.04; p = 0.031) and ST (HR: 1.73, CI: 1.04-2.88; p = 0.036), but not with MI (HR: 1.34; CI: 0.93-1.92; p = 0.11). Among diabetics, chronic kidney disease (HR: 2.99; CI: 2.21-4.04), baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (HR: 0.98; CI: 0.97-0.99), femoral access (HR: 1.62; CI: 1.23-2.15), left main coronary artery (HR: 1.44; CI: 1.06-1.94), main branch diameter (HR: 0.79; CI: 0.66-0.94) and final kissing balloon (HR: 0.70; CI: 0.52-0.93) were independent predictors of MACE at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DM treated with PCI for coronary bifurcations have a worse prognosis due to higher incidence of MACE, all-cause mortality, TLR and ST compared to the non-diabetics.

Comparison of Outcomes Between 1- and 2-Stent Techniques for Medina Classification 0.0.1 Coronary Bifurcation Lesions.

BACKGROUND: Although Medina 0.0.1 bifurcation lesions are often treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in real-world practice, the optimal revascularization strategy for this lesion is uncertain. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes between 1- and 2-stent strategies in patients treated with PCI for Medina 0.0.1 bifurcation lesions. METHODS: The extended BIFURCAT (Combined Insights From the Unified RAIN [Very Thin Stents for Patients with Left Main or Bifurcation in Real Life] and COBIS [Coronary Bifurcation Stenting] Bifurcation Registries) registry was obtained by patient-level merging the dedicated bifurcation COBIS II, III, and RAIN registries. Among 8,434 patients with bifurcation lesions undergoing PCI, 345 (4.1%) with Medina 0.0.1 lesions were selected for the current analysis. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac event (MACE, a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and stent thrombosis) at 800 days. RESULTS: In the total population, 209 patients (60.6%) received PCI with a 1-stent strategy and the remaining 136 patients (39.4%) with a 2-stent strategy. There was a tendency for higher use of a 1-stent strategy over time (36.0%, 47.4%, and 90.4% in 2003-2009, 2010-2014, and 2015-2017, respectively; P for trend < 0.001). For the treatment of Medina 0.0.1 lesions, there was no significant difference in the risk of MACE between 1- and 2-stent strategies (1 stent vs 2 stent, 14.3% vs 13.9%; HR: 1.034; 95% CI: 0.541-1.977; P = 0.92). The risk of MACE was also not significantly different when stratifying into 3 groups (1-stent crossover only, 1-stent with strut opening, and 2-stent strategy). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with a Medina 0.0.1 type bifurcation lesion, PCI with a 1-stent strategy showed comparable outcomes to that of a 2-stent strategy. (Coronary Bifurcation Stenting II [COBIS II]; NCT01642992; Coronary Bifurcation Stenting III [COBIS III]; NCT03068494; Very Thin Stents for Patients with Left Main or Bifurcation in Real Life [RAIN]; NCT03544294).

Impact of Complete Revascularization on Development of Heart Failure in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome and Multivessel Disease: A Subanalysis of the CORALYS Registry.

Background The impact of complete revascularization (CR) on the development of heart failure (HF) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention remains to be elucidated. Methods and Results Consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome with multivessel coronary artery disease from the CORALYS (Incidence and Predictors of Heart Failure After Acute Coronary Syndrome) registry were included. Incidence of first hospitalization for HF or cardiovascular death was the primary end point. Patients were stratified according to completeness of coronary revascularization. Of 14 699 patients in the CORALYS registry, 5054 presented with multivessel disease. One thousand four hundred seventy-three (29.2%) underwent CR, while 3581 (70.8%) did not. Over 5 years follow-up, CR was associated with a reduced incidence of the primary end point (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.66 [95% CI, 0.51-0.85]), first HF hospitalization (adjusted HR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.49-0.90]) along with all-cause death and cardiovascular death alone (adjusted HR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.56-0.97] and HR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.38-0.84], respectively). The results were consistent in the propensity-score matching population and in inverse probability treatment weighting analysis. The benefit of CR was consistent across acute coronary syndrome presentations (HR, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.39-0.89] for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and HR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.50-0.99] for non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome) and in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction >40% (HR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.37-0.72]), while no benefit was observed in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% (HR, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.37-1.10], P for interaction 0.04). Conclusions CR after acute coronary syndrome reduced the risk of first hospitalization for HF and cardiovascular death, as well as first HF hospitalization, and cardiovascular and overall death both in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT04895176.

OCT guided vs. COmplete pci in patieNts with sT segment elevation myocArdial infarCtion and mulTivessel disease: OCT-CONTACT RCT.

BACKGROUND: In patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the culprit lesion significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular death. However, the management of non-culprit lesions in patients with the multivessel disease remains a matter of debate in this setting. It's still unclear if a morphological OCT-guided approach, identifying coronary plaque instability, may provide a more specific treatment compared with a standard angiographic/functional approach. METHODS: OCT-Contact is a prospective, multicenter, open-label, non-inferiority randomized controlled trial. Patients with STEMI with successful primary PCI of the culprit lesion will be enrolled after the index PCI. Patients will be deemed eligible if a critical coronary lesion other than the culprit (associated with a diameter of stenosis ≥50%) will be identified during the index angiography. Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion to OCT-guided PCI of non-culprit lesions (Group A) vs. complete PCI (Group B). PCI in group A will be undertaken according to criteria of plaque vulnerability, while in group B the use of fractional flow reserve will be left at the operators' discretion. Major-adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) are a composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) (excluding peri-procedural MI), unplanned revascularization, and NYHA IV heart failure) will be the primary efficacy outcome. Single components of MACE along with cardiovascular mortality will be the secondary endpoints. . Safety endpoints will embrace worsening of renal failure, procedural complications, and bleedings. Patients will be followed for 24 months after randomization. RESULTS: A sample size of 406 patients (203 per group) is required to provide the analysis an 80% power to detect a non-inferiority in the primary endpoint with an alpha error set at 0.05 and a non-inferiority limit of 4%. CONCLUSIONS: A morphological OCT-guided approach may be a more specific treatment compared with the standard angiographic/functional approach in non-culprit lesions of STEMI patients.

Impact of Clinical and Lesion Features on Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Bifurcation Lesions.

Background: Bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with higher risk of clinical events. Objectives: This study aimed to determine clinical and lesion features that predict adverse outcomes, and to evaluate the differential prognostic impact of these features in patients undergoing PCI for bifurcation lesions. Methods: We analyzed 5,537 patients from the BIFURCAT (comBined Insights From the Unified RAIN and COBIS bifurcAtion regisTries) registry. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 2-year follow-up; secondary outcomes included hard endpoints (all-cause death, myocardial infarction) and lesion-oriented clinical outcomes (LOCO) (target-vessel myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) model was used for feature selection. Results: During the 2-year follow-up period, MACE occurred in 492 patients (8.9%). The LASSO model identified 5 clinical features (old age, chronic renal disease, diabetes mellitus, current smoking, and left ventricular dysfunction) and 4 lesion features (left main disease, proximal main branch disease, side branch disease, and a small main branch diameter) as significant features that predict MACE. A combination of all 9 features improved the predictive value for MACE compared with clinical and lesion features (area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve: 0.657 vs 0.636 vs 0.581; P < 0.001). For secondary endpoints, the clinical features had a higher impact than lesion features on hard endpoints, whereas lesion features had a higher impact than clinical features on LOCO. Conclusions: In bifurcation PCI, 9 features were associated with MACE. Clinical features were predominant predictors for hard endpoints, and lesion features were predominant for predicting LOCO. Clinical and lesion features have distinct values, and both should be considered in bifurcation PCI.

Prediction of All-Cause Mortality Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Bifurcation Lesions Using Machine Learning Algorithms.

Stratifying prognosis following coronary bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an unmet clinical need that may be fulfilled through the adoption of machine learning (ML) algorithms to refine outcome predictions. We sought to develop an ML-based risk stratification model built on clinical, anatomical, and procedural features to predict all-cause mortality following contemporary bifurcation PCI. Multiple ML models to predict all-cause mortality were tested on a cohort of 2393 patients (training, n = 1795; internal validation, n = 598) undergoing bifurcation PCI with contemporary stents from the real-world RAIN registry. Twenty-five commonly available patient-/lesion-related features were selected to train ML models. The best model was validated in an external cohort of 1701 patients undergoing bifurcation PCI from the DUTCH PEERS and BIO-RESORT trial cohorts. At ROC curves, the AUC for the prediction of 2-year mortality was 0.79 (0.74-0.83) in the overall population, 0.74 (0.62-0.85) at internal validation and 0.71 (0.62-0.79) at external validation. Performance at risk ranking analysis, k-center cross-validation, and continual learning confirmed the generalizability of the models, also available as an online interface. The RAIN-ML prediction model represents the first tool combining clinical, anatomical, and procedural features to predict all-cause mortality among patients undergoing contemporary bifurcation PCI with reliable performance.

Long-term (≥15 years) Follow-up of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention of Unprotected Left Main (From the GRAVITY Registry).

Long term survival and its determinants after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) on Unprotected Left Main Coronary Artery (ULMCA) remain to be appraised. In 9 European Centers 470 consecutive patients performing PCI on ULMCA between 2002 and 2005 were retrospectively enrolled. Survival from all cause and cardiovascular (CV) death were the primary end points, while their predictors at multivariate analysis the secondary ones. Among the overall cohort 81.5% of patients were male and mean age was 66 ± 12 years. After 15 years (IQR 13 to 16), 223 patients (47%) died, 81 (17.2%) due to CV etiology. At multivariable analysis, older age (HR 1.06, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.11), LVEF < 35% (HR 2.97, 95%CI 1.24 to 7.15) and number of vessels treated during the index PCI (HR 1.75, 95%CI 1.12 to 2.72) were related to all-cause mortality, while only LVEF <35% (HR 4.71, 95%CI 1.90 to 11.66) to CV death. Repeated PCI on ULMCA occurred in 91 (28%) patients during the course of follow up and did not significantly impact on freedom from all-cause or CV mortality. In conclusion, in a large, unselected population treated with PCI on ULMCA, 47% died after 15 years, 17% due to CV causes. Age, number of vessels treated during index PCI and depressed LVEF increased risk of all cause death, while re-PCI on ULMCA did not impact survival.

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.

Favorable long-term outcome after drug-eluting stent implantation in nonbifurcation lesions that involve unprotected left main coronary artery: a multicenter registry.

BACKGROUND: The presence of a lumen narrowing at the ostium and the body of an unprotected left main coronary artery but does not require bifurcation treatment is a class I indication of surgical revascularization. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 147 consecutive patients who had a stenosis in the ostium and/or the midshaft of an unprotected left main coronary artery (treatment of the bifurcation not required) and were electively treated with percutaneous coronary intervention and sirolimus-eluting stents (n=107) or paclitaxel-eluting stents (n=40) in 5 centres were included in this registry. In 72 patients (almost 50%), intravascular ultrasound guidance was performed. Procedural success was achieved in 99% of the patients; in 1 patient with stenosis in the left main coronary artery ostium, a >30% residual stenosis persisted at the end of the procedure, and the patient was referred for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. During hospitalization, no patients experienced a Q-wave myocardial infarction or died. One patient died 19 days after the procedure because of pulmonary infection. At long-term clinical follow-up (886+/-308 days), 5 patients had died; 7 patients had target vessel revascularization (5 repeat percutaneous coronary interventions and 2 coronary artery bypass graft surgeries), and of these only 1 patient had a target lesion revascularization. Angiographic follow-up was performed in 106 patients (72%) with a late loss of -0.01 mm. Restenosis in the left main trunk occurred only in 1 patient (0.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous coronary intervention with sirolimus-eluting stents or paclitaxel-eluting stents implantation in nonbifurcation left main coronary artery lesions appears safe with a long-term major adverse clinical event rate of 7.4% and a restenosis rate of 0.9%.