OCT or Angiography Guidance for PCI in Complex Bifurcation Lesions.

BACKGROUND: Imaging-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with better clinical outcomes than angiography-guided PCI. Whether routine optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance in PCI of lesions involving coronary-artery branch points (bifurcations) improves clinical outcomes as compared with angiographic guidance is uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label trial at 38 centers in Europe. Patients with a clinical indication for PCI and a complex bifurcation lesion identified by means of coronary angiography were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to OCT-guided PCI or angiography-guided PCI. The primary end point was a composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as death from a cardiac cause, target-lesion myocardial infarction, or ischemia-driven target-lesion revascularization at a median follow-up of 2 years. RESULTS: We assigned 1201 patients to OCT-guided PCI (600 patients) or angiography-guided PCI (601 patients). A total of 111 patients (18.5%) in the OCT-guided PCI group and 116 (19.3%) in the angiography-guided PCI group had a bifurcation lesion involving the left main coronary artery. At 2 years, a primary end-point event had occurred in 59 patients (10.1%) in the OCT-guided PCI group and in 83 patients (14.1%) in the angiography-guided PCI group (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.50 to 0.98; P = 0.035). Procedure-related complications occurred in 41 patients (6.8%) in the OCT-guided PCI group and 34 patients (5.7%) in the angiography-guided PCI group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with complex coronary-artery bifurcation lesions, OCT-guided PCI was associated with a lower incidence of MACE at 2 years than angiography-guided PCI. (Funded by Abbott Vascular and others; OCTOBER ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03171311.).

Takotsubo syndrome in Sørlandet Hospital Arendal 2010-16. / Takotsubosyndrom ved Sørlandet sykehus Arendal 2010­16.

BAKGRUNN: Takotsubosyndrom er en akutt hjertesykdom med symptomer som ved akutt hjerteinfarkt, men med åpne koronararterier og regionale funksjonsforstyrrelser i venstre ventrikkel. Vi har undersøkt forekomst av og forløp ved tilstanden hos pasienter i Agder og Telemark. MATERIALE OG METODE: Alle pasienter innlagt i Sørlandet sykehus Arendal fra 1. mars 2010 til 31. januar 2016 med diagnosen takotsubosyndrom ble inkludert og fulgt til 15. september 2016. RESULTATER: Totalt ble det inkludert 91 episoder med takotsubosyndrom fordelt på 90 pasienter, hvorav 93 % var kvinner og 88 % var over 60 år. Forekomsten var 3,3 per 100 000 innbyggere per år i perioden og det var 19,9 % årlig økning. Takotsubosyndrom forelå ved 2,3 % av alle undersøkelser med koronar angiografi ved indikasjon akutt hjerteinfarkt. Behandlingstrengende komplikasjoner oppsto ved 39 % av innleggelsene. 7 % av pasientene døde i løpet av oppfølgingstiden (median 985 dager), og 3 % fikk residiv. FORTOLKNING: Takotsubosyndrom er en viktig differensialdiagnose ved mistanke om akutt hjerteinfarkt, spesielt hos eldre kvinner, og det er registrert økende forekomst. Mange pasienter har behandlingstrengende komplikasjoner i akuttfasen. Ventrikkelfunksjonen blir normal i løpet av seks måneder, men residiv kan forekomme.

Remote proctoring in complex percutaneous coronary intervention aided by mixed reality technology.

Aims: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) has a lower success rate and a higher complication rate compared to PCI of non-occluded coronary arteries. Co-operation and supervision by a more experienced operator (proctoring) are associated with improved success of CTO procedures. This study aims to assess the feasibility of remote proctoring using web-based communication and mixed reality technology in CTO procedures. Methods and results: The PCI operator was equipped with a Microsoft HoloLens 2 head-mounted display enabling visual and verbal interaction including holographic annotations with a remote proctor. Ten CTO procedures were performed by a single PCI operator assisted by a remote proctor. Audio and video communication was successfully established in all procedures. All procedures were possible to perform with a Microsoft HoloLens 2 head-mounted display. The PCI operator experienced the remote proctoring as useful. Conclusion: Remote proctoring of CTO procedures using mixed reality technology was feasible. The impact of the method regarding procedural and patient outcomes needs to be assessed in new studies.