The role of chronic total occlusions in non-infarct-related arteries in acute coronary syndrome patients: a systematic review.

Aim: This systematic review evaluated the impact of a chronic total occlusion (CTO) in a non-infarct-related artery (non-IRA) on clinical outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients and assessed the benefits of staged revascularization.Methods: We performed a comprehensive systematic review to provide further insight into the impact of a CTO in a non-IRA on clinical outcomes after ACS. Moreover, we review the currently available evidence on the clinical significance of staged revascularization for a CTO in a non-IRA patients with ACS and propose whether prophylactic CTO percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) could improve outcomes in patients who subsequently develop an ACS.Results: Our search identified 999 studies, from which 30 were selected and ten were included in the analysis. The results showed a trend of higher all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiac event rates in the culprit-only-PCI group compared with the multivessel (MV)-PC I group in ST elevation myocardial infarction patients, with varying statistical significance across different outcomes.Conclusion: This review highlights the significant impact of non-IRA CTOs in ACS. Successful CTO revascularization may provide benefits, particularly in ST elevation myocardial infarction, but the optimal management approach remains uncertain. The presence of a non-IRA CTO, especially in cardiogenic shock, predicts worse outcomes. Further research is warranted to determine the effective strategies to improve survival.

Heart attacks occur when blood flow to the heart is blocked. Some people have a long-standing complete blockage in a heart artery, called a chronic total occlusion (CTO). This review examined studies on heart attack patients, who also had a CTO in a different artery.The review found that having a CTO makes heart attacks more dangerous, increasing the risk of serious complications or death. Treating the CTO might benefit some patients, potentially reducing future heart problems. However, the optimal timing for CTO treatment remains unclear, some doctors prefer immediate treatment, while others advocate waiting.For very sick heart attack patients in cardiogenic shock, a CTO further increases risks. These patients may require specialized treatments to support heart function.Although fixing CTOs might help, more research is needed to determine their effectiveness for all patients. Currently, treatment decisions are made based on each patient's situation.In conclusion, CTOs pose a significant challenge in heart attack treatment. Further studies are necessary to establish the safest and most effective approach for managing heart attack patients with CTOs.

Impact of cigarette smoking on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with coronary chronic total occlusion lesions.

Cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease. However, there is insufficient evidence regarding the long-term clinical effects of smoking in Asian populations with chronic total occlusion (CTO). This study aimed to assess the effects of smoking on 5-year (median follow-up period, 4.2 ± 1.5 [interquartile range, 4.06-5.0] years) clinical outcomes in patients with CTO lesions who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or medical treatment (MT). We enrolled 681 consecutive patients with CTO who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography and subsequent PCI or MT. The patients were categorized into smokers (n = 304) and nonsmokers (n = 377). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and revascularization over a 5-year period. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed to adjust for potential baseline confounders. After PSM analysis, two propensity-matched groups (200 pairs, n = 400) were generated, and the baseline characteristics of both groups were balanced. The smokers exhibited a higher cardiovascular risk of MACE (29.5% vs. 18.5%, p = 0.010) and non-TVR (17.5 vs. 10.5%, p = 0.044) than the nonsmokers. In a landmark analysis using Kaplan-Meier curves at 1 year, the smokers had a significantly higher rate of MACE in the early period (up to 1 year) (18.8% and 9.2%, respectively; p = 0.008) compared with the nonsmokers. The Cox hazard regression analysis with propensity score adjustment revealed that smoking was independently associated with an increased risk of MACE. These findings indicate that smoking is a strong cardiovascular risk factor in patients with CTO, regardless of the treatment strategy (PCI or MT). In addition, in the subgroup analysis, the risk of MACE was most prominently elevated in the group of smokers who underwent PCI.

Exosomal miRNAs Differentiate Chronic Total Occlusion from Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Although coronary artery occlusion can have a negative effect on the myocardium, chronic total occlusion (CTO) exhibits different clinical features from those of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, we identify the differential associations of exosomal miRNAs with CTO and AMI. Exosomes were isolated from the plasma obtained from coronary arteries of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention to treat CTO (n = 29) and AMI (n = 24), followed by small RNA sequencing, target gene predictions, and functional enrichment analyses. Promising miRNA markers were validated using real-time PCR in 35 CTO, 35 AMI, and 10 normal subjects. A total of 205 miRNAs were detected in all subjects, and 20 and 12 miRNAs were upregulated and downregulated in CTO compared to AMI patients, respectively (|fold change| > 4, FDR q < 0.05). The target genes of miRNAs that were higher in CTO patients were associated with "regulation of cell cycle phase transition", "cell growth", and "apoptosis". The target genes of miRNAs that were lower in CTO patients were enriched in terms such as "muscle cell differentiation", "response to oxygen levels", and "artery morphogenesis". On qRT-PCR analysis, the expression levels of miR-9-5p and miR-127-3p were significantly different between CTO and AMI patients. The miRNA expression levels accurately distinguished CTO from AMI patients with 79% specificity and 97% sensitivity. The miRNA contents of plasma exosomes were significantly different between CTO and AMI patients. The miRNAs may play important roles in CTO and AMI.

A Coronary-Friendly Device Mitigating Risk of Coronary Obstruction in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Purpose: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) induced coronary artery obstruction (CAO) is a rare but devastating complication. Current preventive strategies need additional procedures and may be associated with adverse events. This study aimed to evaluate the early safety and efficacy of stand-alone TAVR using the J-Valve (Jianshi JieCheng Medical Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China) in patients at potential high risk for CAO. Patients and Methods: CAO was defined as coronary ostia obstruction requiring intervention. Patients at potential high risk for CAO were identified retrospectively from 673 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR from January 2015 to July 2021 at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. Procedural results and early outcomes were evaluated according to Valve Academic Research Consortium-3 definitions. Results: A total of 20 consecutive patients (age 72 ± 9 years; 85% female;) were included. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons-Predicted Risk of Mortality was 5% (interquartile range, 4 to 10%). All patients (100%) had at least 2 classical risk factors for CAO by pre-procedural computed tomography analysis, and 90% patients had native aortic valve diseases. TAVR was successful in 95% of cases, with only 1 patient requiring second device implantation. Early safety at 30 days was achieved in all cases without death. All patients were free from CAO, stroke or emergency reintervention. Post-procedural mean aortic valve gradient was 7 (interquartile range, 4, 12) mmHg, and none/trace or mild aortic regurgitation was present in all patients. Conclusion: Stand-alone TAVR using the J-Valve may mitigate the risk of TAVR-induced CAO.

Uncommon culprit artery leading to atypical de winter electrocardiographic changes: a case report.

BACKGROUND: A subset of patients with acute coronary artery occlusion requiring emergency revascularization, does not present with the typical ECG features of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).Timely identification of these atypical presentations is crucial. CASE PRESENTATION: This report describes a 55-year-old male patient who was admitted to the emergency department with chest pain. The electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded atypical de Winter electrocardiographic changes and their evolution. RESULTS: Coronary angiography confirmed the occlusion of the second diagonal branch (D2). The patient's condition improved after D2 balloon angioplasty. CONCLUSION: De Winter electrocardiographic changes can also be observed in D2 occlusions and may present with milder manifestations. Timely recognition of these changes holds significant clinical value.

Can the SYNTAX score predict mortality in patients with cardiac arrest?

OBJECTIVE: Sudden cardiac death or arrest describes an unexpected cardiac cause-related death or arrest that occurs rapidly out of the hospital or in the emergency room. This study aimed to reveal the relationship between coronary angiographic findings and cardiac death secondary to acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients presenting with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction complicated with cardiac arrest were included in the study. The severity of coronary artery disease, coronary chronic total occlusion, coronary collateral circulation, and blood flow in the infarct-related artery were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups, namely, deaths secondary to cardiac arrest and survivors of cardiac arrest. RESULTS: A total of 161 cardiac deaths and 42 survivors of cardiac arrest were included. The most frequent (46.3%) location of the culprit lesion was on the proximal left anterior descending artery. The left-dominant coronary circulation was 59.1%. There was a difference in the SYNTAX score (16.3±3.8 vs. 13.6±1.9; p=0.03) and the presence of chronic total occlusion (19.2 vs. 0%; p=0.02) between survivors and cardiac deaths. A high SYNTAX score (OR: 0.38, 95%CI: 0.27-0.53, p<0.01) was determined as an independent predictor of death secondary to cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: The chronic total occlusion presence and SYNTAX score may predict death after cardiac arrest secondary to ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Predicting coronary artery occlusion risk from noninvasive images by combining CFD-FSI, cGAN and CNN.

Wall Shear Stress (WSS) is one of the most important parameters used in cardiovascular fluid mechanics, and it provides a lot of information like the risk level caused by any vascular occlusion. Since WSS cannot be measured directly and other available relevant methods have issues like low resolution, uncertainty and high cost, this study proposes a novel method by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD), fluid-structure interaction (FSI), conditional generative adversarial network (cGAN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) to predict coronary artery occlusion risk using only noninvasive images accurately and rapidly. First, a cGAN model called WSSGAN was developed to predict the WSS contours on the vessel wall by training and testing the model based on the calculated WSS contours using coupling CFD-FSI simulations. Then, an 11-layer CNN was used to classify the WSS contours into three grades of occlusions, i.e. low risk, medium risk and high risk. To verify the proposed method for predicting the coronary artery occlusion risk in a real case, the patient's Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images were converted into a 3D geometry for use in the WASSGAN model. Then, the predicted WSS contours by the WSSGAN were entered into the CNN model to classify the occlusion grade.

Role of calcification in J-CTO score: a viewpoint of intraplaque guidewire tracking techniques.

BACKGROUND: As the burden and distribution of calcification within chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions can be diverse, its effect on CTO recanalization using multiple devices and techniques is debatable. This study investigated the role of calcification in wiring-based intraplaque tracking techniques for CTO recanalization. METHODS: A modified J-CTO score without counting calcification was used to analyze the procedures of 458 consecutive patients who underwent CTO interventions. Failed guidewire crossing and intraplaque tracking were considered procedural failures. Recanalization time details were analyzed for successful procedures. RESULTS: In patients with calcified CTO, the rate of procedural success only significantly declined to be lower than that of noncalcified CTO when the modified J-CTO score was ≥3 (77% vs. 94%, p = 0.008). In 422 patients with successful procedures, the presence of calcification was irrelevant to guidewire crossing time, but was accompanied with longer time from guidewire cross to final angiogram when the modified J-CTO score was 1-2 (53 ± 35 vs. 35 ± 17 [noncalcified] min, p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses showed that calcification was independently associated with procedural failure (odds ratio [OR] = 5.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-18.3) in lesions with modified J-CTO ≥3, and prolonged angioplasty/stenting procedures >60 min (OR = 4.8, 95% CI = 2.2-10.2) in successfully recanalized lesions with modified J-CTO score 1-2. CONCLUSIONS: Using intraplaque guidewire tracking, calcification was unfavorable for very difficult CTO lesions, and caused prolongation of angioplasty time for lesions with moderate complexity. This suggested that the role of calcification in the J-CTO score could be altered when different recanalization techniques were applied for CTO interventions.

Since several commonly used scoring systems for grading the difficulty of CTO-PCI are derived from multiple recanalization techniques and devices, their application should be fundamental. However, most CTO interventionists usually have their own favored recanalization techniques in the real-world. As one of the parameters of J-CTO score, the findings of the study suggest that the interpretation of calcification during CTO-PCI could be altered and should be cautious if different recanalization technique was used.

Use of dual-lumen microcatheter pullback injection in complex percutaneous coronary intervention.

Dual-lumen microcatheters (DLMC) are utilized in challenging wiring scenarios as well as for contrast and medication injections. Nonetheless, lesion characterization remains extremely challenging in many cases. We describe a DLMC-facilitated technique which can assist in locating the distal anastomosis while navigating an occluded bypass graft during retrograde chronic total occlusion recanalization, as well as in the differential diagnosis of abrupt vessel closure. This "DLMC Pullback Injection" technique is performed by injecting contrast through the over-the-wire port of the DLMC, while the latter is quickly pulled back across the region of interest in a dynamic fashion. We believe this technique has the potential to solve challenging scenarios and to enrich the complex percutaneous coronary intervention operator's armamentarium.

Intravascular lithotripsy in heavily calcified chronic total occlusion: procedural and one-year clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Calcification within chronic total occlusions (CTO) is strongly associated with worse outcomes. Despite the excellent success and safety of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in heavily calcified lesions, evidence in CTO remains scarce. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the procedural and long-term clinical outcomes of IVL in heavily calcified CTO. METHODS: Patients who underwent IVL between 2019 and 2024 from an ongoing prospective multicenter registry were eligible for inclusion. Patients were therefore classified in CTO and non-CTO groups. The efficacy and safety endpoints of CTO percutaneous coronary interventions were defined according to the CTO-ARC consensus. In-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) included cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularization (TVR). RESULTS: A total of 404 patients underwent IVL, of which the treated lesion was a CTO in 33 (8.2%). The mean J-CTO score was 2.3 ± 1.1. Device success showed no significant difference between CTO and non-CTO groups (100% vs 98.4%; p = 0.35). Comparable technical success with residual stenosis <30% was observed in both groups (90.1% in CTO vs 89.2% in non-CTO, p = 0.83). The incidence of MACE was similar across groups during hospital stays (CTO 6.0% vs. non-CTO 1.9%, p = 0.12), at 30-day (CTO 9.1% vs. non-CTO 3.0%, p = 0.07), and at 12-month follow-up (CTO 9.1% vs. non-CTO 7.3%, p = 0.70). CONCLUSION: IVL provides high procedural success and consistent clinical outcomes in both CTO and non-CTO cases, reinforcing its role in managing heavily calcified coronary lesions.

Combined Surgical and Percutaneous Management of Circumflex Artery Occlusion After Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair.

This report describes a hybrid intervention addressing left circumflex artery occlusion during minimally invasive mitral valve repair. By using a radiopaque Cor-Knot device (LSI Solutions), targeted removal of occluding sutures was achieved, circumventing sternotomy and coronary artery bypass. Real-time coronary angiography provided assessment of procedural success during surgical revision in a hybrid operating room.

Radiomics Analysis of CTO Plaques for Predicting Successful Guidewire Crossing Within 30 Minutes of PCI.

BACKGROUND: Coronary computed tomography angiography provides valuable information for evaluating the difficulty of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention. This study aimed to investigate the value of CTO plaque characteristics derived from radiomics analysis for predicting the difficulty of percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS: Patients with CTO were retrospectively enrolled from a hospital as training and internal test sets and from the other 2 territory hospitals as external test sets. Radiomics characteristics were extracted from the CTO segment on coronary computed tomography angiography. Radiomics and combined models were developed to predict successful guidewire crossing within 30 minutes (guidewire success) of CTO percutaneous coronary intervention. Subgroup analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of potential risk factors on the radiomics model performance. RESULTS: A total of 551 patients (median, 60; interquartile range, 52.00-66.00 years, 460 men) with 565 CTO lesions were finally enrolled. In the training, internal test, and external test sets, 203 of 357, 85 of 149, and 38 of 59 CTO lesions achieved guidewire success, respectively. Six radiomics features were selected for constructing the radiomics model. In the external test set, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the radiomics model was significantly higher than prior prediction models (P<0.05 for all) with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.86, 74.58%, 81.58%, and 61.90%, respectively. The performance of the radiomics model was dependent on calcification, CTO location, adjacent branch(es), and operator caseload. CONCLUSIONS: CTO characteristics revealed by radiomics analysis can be used as effective imaging biomarkers for predicting guidewire success. However, the performance of the radiomics model depends on anatomic and operator factors.

Association between the pan-immune-inflammation value and coronary collateral circulation in chronic total coronary occlusive patients.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation and immunity play important roles in the formation of coronary collateral circulation (CCC). The pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) is a novel marker for evaluating systemic inflammation and immunity. The study aimed to investigate the association between the PIV and CCC formation in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO). METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 1150 patients who were diagnosed with CTO through coronary angiographic (CAG) examinations from January 2013 to December 2021 in China. The Cohen-Rentrop criteria were used to catagorize CCC formation: good CCC formation (Rentrop grade 2-3) and poor CCC formation group (Rentrop grade 0-1). Based on the tertiles of the PIV, all patients were classified into three groups as follows: P1 group, PIV ≤ 237.56; P2 group, 237.56< PIV ≤ 575.18; and P3 group, PIV > 575.18. RESULTS: A significant relationship between the PIV and the formation of CCC was observed in our study. Utilizing multivariate logistic regression and adjusting for confounding factors, the PIV emerged as an independent risk factor for poor CCC formation. Notably, the restricted cubic splines revealed a dose-response relationship between the PIV and risk of poor CCC formation. In terms of predictive accuracy, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for PIV in anticipating poor CCC formation was 0.618 (95% CI: 0.584-0.651, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the net reclassification index (NRI) and integrated discrimination index (IDI) for PIV, concerning the prediction of poor CCC formation, were found to be 0.272 (95% CI: 0.142-0.352, P < 0.001) and 0.051 (95% CI: 0.037-0.065, P < 0.001), respectively. It's noteworthy that both the NRI and IDI values were higher for PIV compared to other inflammatory biomarkers, suggesting its superiority in predictive capacity. CONCLUSIONS: PIV was associated with the formation of CCC. Notably, PIV exhibited potential as a predictor for poor CCC formation and showcased superior predictive performance compared to other complete blood count-based inflammatory biomarkers.

Bioresorbable Scaffold Use in Coronary Chronic Total Occlusions: A Long-Term, Single-Center Follow-Up Study.

Background and Objectives: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusion (CTO) is often associated with longer total stent length. Our aim was to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of bioresorbable scaffold (BRS) implantation in CTO to avoid using a full metal jacket. Materials and Methods: We conducted a single-center prospective longitudinal case study including 34 patients who underwent PCI of CTO with at least one BRS and drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation (n = 27) or BRS-only at the Latvian Centre of Cardiology between 2016 and 2018. Quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and intravascular ultrasound were performed during the index procedure and long-term follow-up. Results: Of 34 patients with a mean age of 60.6 ± 9.5 years, 76.5% were male. The most common CTO artery was the right coronary artery (73.5%, n = 25). The median length of occlusion was 23.0 mm (interquartile range (IQR) = 13.9-32.7), with a total mean BRS/DES length of 49.6 ± 20.4 mm. During the median follow-up of 5.6 years (IQR = 5.0-5.9), the primary endpoint of target vessel re-occlusion occurred in 5.9% (n = 2) of patients. Target lesion revascularization (TLR) was performed in 35.3% (n = 12) of patients, with a mean time to TLR of 62.5 (95% confidence interval (CI), 53.9-71.2) months. Through QCA, there was a statistically significant increase in median residual diameter stenosis (20.1-31.4%, p < 0.01) and residual length of stenosis (5.2-7.1%, p = 0.04) compared with the index procedure. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that BRS is a safe and feasible option for PCI of CTO, allowing for the avoidance of long segment stenting and ensuring long-term patency of the coronary artery.

The impacts of percutaneous coronary intervention to treat chronic total occlusion of right coronary artery on the 5-year prognosis: A single-centered retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic total occlusions (CTO) occur in about 20% of patients referred for coronary angiography, and right coronary artery (RCA) CTO has been reported in 38-50% of the entire CTO population. Limited data on angiographic and procedural characteristics of RCA-CTO and the risk of adverse cardiac events asks for a detailed study. METHODS: From 2010 to 2013, patients with attempted revascularization of at least one CTO lesion were included and followed up to 5 years after PCI. Eligible patients are assigned to RCA-CTO and non-RCA-CTO groups based on their target vessels. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) or rehospitalization for heart failure), and secondary endpoints were cardiac death, target lesion revascularization (TLR) and target vessel revascularization (TVR). RESULTS: The present study included 2659 eligible patients, among which 1285 patients were assigned to the RCA-CTO group, whereas 1374 patients were assigned to the non-RCA-CTO group. Lesions in RCA had longer lesion length, higher J-CTO score, higher rates of severe vessel tortuosity, a higher percentage of Rentrop grade 2-3, and more likely to be re-try lesion than those in LAD or LCX (all P < 0.01). CTO lesions in RCA reached less successful recanalization and post-procedural TIMI 3 flow (all <0.01). Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that RCA-CTO was not associated with primary outcome MACEs. Besides MACEs, RCA-CTO was also not associated with cardiac death, but was significantly associated with TLR and TVR (adjusted HR: 1.37 [95% CI:1.07-1.76], P = 0.01; adjusted HR: 1.43 [95% CI:1.13-1.82], P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: RCA-CTO lesions, which had more complex angiographic features, independently contributed to TLR and TVR but not to MACEs or cardiac death in the 5 years of follow-up.