Use of the Impella 2.5 for prophylactic circulatory support during elective high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who are at high risk for cardiovascular collapse during the procedure may benefit from prophylactic circulatory support. The objective was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of prophylactic use of the Impella 2.5 during high-risk PCI. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We used the Impella 2.5 for partial circulatory support during 60 consecutive elective high-risk PCI cases over 20 months. All patients either were deemed inoperable by the cardiac surgeons or were offered bypass surgery but declined. RESULTS: The patients had multiple risk factors including hypertension (95%), diabetes (52%), chronic pulmonary disease (23%), prior myocardial infarction (62%) and prior bypass surgery (18%). Forty-five percent presented with acute coronary syndrome. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 23%±15%. Nearly all patients had multivessel disease (93%), and 60% had left main disease. The average SYNTAX score was 30±9. Despite lesion complexity and high-risk factors, we achieved an angiographic success rate of 96%. Left main lesions were treated in 55% of the patients, and 83% of patients had multiple lesions treated. There was one procedural death. At 30 days postintervention, mortality was 5%, and rates of myocardial infarction, stroke, target vessel revascularization and urgent bypass surgery were 0%. CONCLUSIONS: The single-center experience reported here demonstrates that use of the Impella 2.5 during high-risk PCI in the "real world" - outside the controlled environment of a clinical trial - is safe and feasible.

Comparison of prevalence of >70% diameter narrowing of one or more major coronary arteries in patients with versus without mitral annular calcium and clinically suspected coronary artery disease.

The prevalence of >70% narrowing of 1, 2, or 3 major coronary arteries and of 3 major coronary arteries was investigated in 2,465 patients (1,437 men, 1,028 women; mean age 69 +/- 13 years) with severe, moderate, mild, or no mitral annular calcium (MAC) diagnosed by 2-dimensional echocardiography who underwent coronary angiography for suspected coronary artery disease. Greater than 70% narrowing of 1, 2, or 3 major coronary arteries was present in 259 of 315 patients (82%) with severe MAC (group 1), in 835 of 1,052 patients (79%) with moderate or mild MAC (group 2), and in 756 of 1,098 patients (69%) with no MAC (group 3) (p <0.001 comparing group 1 with group 3 and group 2 with group 3). Greater than 70% narrowing of 3 major coronary arteries was present in 149 of 315 patients (47%) in group 1, in 366 of 1,052 patients (35%) in group 2, and in 325 of 1,098 patients (30%) in group 3 (p <0.001 comparing group 1 with group 3 and group 1 with group 2; p <0.01 comparing group 2 with group 3). In conclusion, MAC is associated with obstructive >or=1-vessel coronary artery disease and with obstructive 3-vessel coronary artery disease.

Anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery from the right sinus of Valsalva with an intramural course identified by transesophageal echocardiography in a 14 year old with acute myocardial infarction.

Coronary artery anomalies have an incidence of 0.6% to 1.3% in angiographic studies and 0.3% in an autopsy series. Anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) from the right sinus of Valsalva (RSOV) represents a small fraction (1.3%) of these anomalies, with an overall prevalence of 0.017% to 0.03% in angiographic studies. The high incidence of sudden cardiac death associated with this specific anomaly during or immediately after vigorous physical exercise makes identification and appropriate surgical intervention critical. We present a case report of a 14-year-old patient with an LMCA arising from the RSOV with an initial intramural course, presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as the first indication of the anomaly. Transthoracic echocardiogram suggested this anomaly, which was confirmed by cardiac catheterization and transesophageal echocardiogram.

Inpatient telemetry does not need to be used in the management of older patients hospitalized with chest pain at low risk for in-hospital coronary events and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about patients admitted with chest pain to inpatient telemetry units directly from an emergency department. METHODS: We analyzed data from 105 consecutive patients who presented with chest pain to an emergency department and who were hospitalized in an inpatient telemetry unit but who were at low risk for a coronary event. RESULTS: Telemetry yielded no information which was used to manage any patient. None of the 105 patients (0%) developed a myocardial infarction or died during hospitalization. At 4.8-year follow-up, 8 of 105 patients (8%) died. Significant risk factors for long-term mortality were age (p < .001), prior coronary artery disease (p < .05), and diabetes (p < .02). CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient telemetry was of no value in predicting short-term coronary events or mortality or long-term mortality in low-risk patients hospitalized with chest pain.

The effects of off-normal hours, age, and gender for coronary angioplasty on hospital mortality in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was performed in all 1,050 patients hospitalized within 24 hours of symptoms of documented acute myocardial infarction (AMI) from 1998 to 2002. Hospital mortality was similar in women and men who underwent PTCA for AMI but was higher in patients aged 75 to 95 years (10%) than in patients aged 21 to 50 (2.1%, p <0.001), 51 to 64 (2.3%, p <0.001), and 65 to 74 years (4%, p <0.02). Hospital mortality was higher in patients who had PTCA for AMI during off-normal (5.8%) than normal hours (3.2%, p <0.05).