[Cardiologist training in Chile and contributions from the Chilean Society of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery]. / Formación del cardiólogo en Chile y contribuciones desde la Sociedad Chilena de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular.

The Chilean Society of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery (SOCHICAR) is a scientific society whose mission is to improve the nation's cardiovascular health. Its primary goals include discussing issues affecting the specialty and engaging in various activities that support its advancement. To achieve these goals, numerous educational initiatives are undertaken for health professionals, including physicians in cardiology training programs. Training specialists in Chile is the responsibility of the universities, which design the curriculum and plan the program according to the graduate profile. SOCHICAR seeks to integrate these new generations of cardiologists, setting up tasks that contribute to their training. It seemed relevant to us to state our position as a Scientific Society in importants aspects related to this process: the graduate profile of the clinical cardiologist, the necessary competencies for their performance nationally, the identification of deficient areas in their training period, and the Society's contributions to this university-dependent process. A total of 15 cardiologists from SOCHICAR, at different stages of professional development, various geographic areas, and areas of performance and functions, were invited to participate in three working groups. This SOCHICAR position statement may be useful and an important source of information to be considered by authorities, accrediting entities, training centers, and the Chilean Society of Cardiology.

Novel Epicardial Access Technique Facilitated by Carbon Dioxide Insufflation of the Pericardium for Ablation of Ventricular Arrhythmias: Lessons From the Early Experience From a Single Centre in Australia.

INTRODUCTION: Epicardial access for mapping and ablation of the epicardial substrate may be required in catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardias (VT). However, high complication rates are associated with the standard epicardial access approach. Recently, a novel method of intentional coronary vein (CV) exit with pericardial CO2 insufflation to facilitate epicardial access has been described. This study describes our initial experience with this technique. METHODS: Patients undergoing epicardial VT ablation between 1 February 2021 to 31 May 2022 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, were included in this study. Via femoral venous access, a branch of the coronary sinus was sub-selected and intentional CV exit was performed with a high tip load coronary angioplasty wire. A microcatheter was then advanced over the wire into the pericardial space, followed by pericardial CO2 insufflation, facilitating subxiphoid pericardial puncture. RESULTS: Five (5) patients underwent epicardial access for VT mapping and ablation. All patients had successful intentional CV exit and CO2 facilitated epicardial access. The mean time to successful epicardial access was 37.2±17.5 minutes. With increasing operator experience, there was improvement in epicardial access times, with the fifth case requiring only 13 minutes. There was one case of inadvertent right ventricular puncture (without haemodynamic or ventilatory compromise) due to inappropriate CO2 insufflation into the right ventricle. Epicardial access was successful on the second attempt. CONCLUSION: This is the first case series of epicardial access facilitated by CO2 insufflation in Australia. This technique enabled successful epicardial access in all patients in our early experience, with no adverse outcomes from epicardial access. With increasing operator experience, this technique may allow for more widespread adoption of up-front epicardial access for the treatment of VT.

Membrana de circulación extracorpórea veno-arterial para ablación de tormenta eléctrica en shock cardiogénico: caso clínico / Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) used for support during ablation of ventricular electrical storm: case report

RESUMEN: Se presenta el caso clínico de un paciente que presenta un infarto del miocardio con trombolisis no exitosa y posterior implantación de 2 stents coronarios quien desarrolla, algunos días después, una tormenta eléctrica ventricular. Una ablación de la taquicardia se realizó bajo ECMO, con buen resultado. Se detalla la descripción del caso, revisa y discute el tema.

ABSTRAC: A patient with a myocardial infarction whom, following a failed thrombolisis and implantion of 2 stents developed a ventricular electrical storm and hemodynamic instability. A successful ablation of the tachycardia with the use of ECMO was performed. A full description is included, along with a discussion of the subject.

Resultados a mediano plazo del implante de stents imbricados en pacientes con infarto con supradesnivel del ST: el rol de los stents medicados / Midterm results of overlapping stents implantation in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction

Resumen: Introducción: El implante de dos stents imbricados (SIMB) es una práctica frecuente en el laboratorio de hemodinamia. Sin embargo, evidencia reciente sugiere que en pacientes con infarto con supradesnivel del segmento ST (IAMc/SDST) esta técnica puede asociarse a mejores resultados cuando se utilizan exclusivamente stents medicados. Objetivo: Evaluar en una cohorte de pacientes chilenos las causas, características clínicas y sobrevida a 2 años de los pacientes con IAMc/SDST que son tratados con SIMB, en función del tipo de dispositivo y combinación utilizada; metálico/metálico (BMS/BMS), metálico/medicado (BMS/DES), medicado/medicado (DES/DES). Método: Se realizó un estudio prospectivo, caso incidente, entre enero del año 2012 y mayo del año 2016 en nuestro laboratorio de hemodinamia. Se recolectó la información clínica, angiográfica y sobrevida a 2 años de los pacientes ingresados por IAMc/SDST que fueron tratados con SIMB. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó chicuadrado, regresión logística y análisis multivariado en programa SPSS, considerando significativa una p<0,05. Resultados: De 2403 pacientes evaluados, el 13% (n=312) recibió tratamiento con SIMB. La edad pro-medio fue de 68 ± 6,6 años y el 71% correspondió a hombres. La presencia de DMII fue de 37%, HTA 65%, tabaquismo 41%, dislipidemia 29% y cardiopatía coronaria previa 18%. Se observó que la fracción de eyección promedio fue de 45 ± 3,5%, medida por método de Simpson. Las causas para imbricar stents fueron la disección post implante de stent en 72%, desplazamiento de placa en 22,5% y extensión de placa más allá de la longitud del stent en un 5,5%. El 38% fue tratado con 2 stents BMS, el 26% con stents BMS/DES y el 36% con DES/DES. El diámetro y largo promedio de SIMB fue de 2,8 ± 2,6 mm y 41,3 ± 6,4 mm, respectivamente. Se observó una mortalidad a 2 años de 11% en el grupo BMS/BMS, 8% BMS/DES y 6% DES/DES (p<0,01) y la necesidad de revascularización fue 8%, 5,2% y 2% respectivamente (p=0,02). El usar la combinación BMS/ BMS se asoció a una mayor mortalidad a 2 años en análisis de regresión logística univariado (OR 5,2, IC 95% 2,0-17,9, p<0,01) y multivariado (ajustado por variables clínicas, número de vasos enfermos y presentación clínica) [OR 5,5, IC 95% 1,9-21,0, p<0,01]). Excluyendo a los pacientes con mortalidad temprana, como marcador de severidad de presentación clínica, la mortalidad a 2 años en el grupo BMS/BMS tuvo un OR de 5.9, 95% CI 2.1- 19.5 (p < 0.01). No se observó diferencia en la mortalidad de pacientes tratados con 2 SIMB DES/DES y los tratados con 1 stent DES. Conclusión: El implantar stents imbricados en pacientes con IAMc/SDST es una práctica común en el laboratorio de hemodinamia. Nuestros resultados sugieren que los resultados a mediano plazo son significativamente mejores cuando al menos uno de los stents utilizados es medicado, lo cual es concordante con reportes recientes.

Abstracts: Background: Coronary angioplasty using two overlapping (OL) stents is a frequent practice at the cath laboratory, however the impact this strategy has on patient prognosis and the preferred stent type are largely unknown. Aim: To evaluate 2-year outcomes of STEMI patients who underwent treatment with OL stents and assess the impact of different types of stents combinations:(BMS/BMS), (BMS/DES), or (DES/DES). Methods: Patients presenting with STEMI undergoing primary angioplasty with 2 OL stents between January 2012 to May 2016 were included. Baseline and procedural information was collected, clinically-driven new revascularizations were recorded, and 2-year survival status was confirmed from the national database registry. OL stents technique was defined as a segment with a double layer of stents of at least 1 mm and less than 5 mm long. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS v21.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA), at with p<=0.05 being considered significant. Results: Of 2403 STEMI patients treated within this period, in 312 (13%) the OL was used. Mean age was 68 ± 6.6 years. 71% males. Type 2 diabetesmellitus was present in 37%, arterial hypertension in 65%, smoking in 41%, dyslipidemia in 29% and previously treated coronary heart disease (either CABG or PCI) in 18% of patients. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as assessed by 2D Simpson method was 48±3.5%. Indications for overlapping stents were plaque extension in 72%, edge dissection after stent implantation in 22.5%, and plaque displacement in 5.5%. One, 2 or 3 vessels disease was present in 23%, 34% and 43%, respectively. Thirty-eight percent of patients were treated with 2 BMS stents, 26% with BMS/DES stents and 36% with two DES stents. The mean stent diameter and length were 2.8 ± 2.6 mm and 41.3 ± 6.4 mm, respectively, with no difference between the 3 groups. Post procedure target vessel revascularization was 8% for BMS/BMS, 5.2% for BMS/DES and 2% for DES/DES groups (p=0.02). Two-year cardiovascular mortality was 11% for the BMS/BMS group, 8% for the BMS/DES group and 6% for the DES/DES (p <0.01). BMS/BMS combination was associated with a greater cardiovascular 2-year mortality in both univariate (OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.0-17.9, p <0.01) and multivariate analyses ([OR 5.5, 95% CI 1.9-21.0, p <0.01]). After excluding early mortality cases during the first week (due to their overall severity at presentation), 2-year cardiovascular mortality in the BMS/BMS group had an adjusted OR of 5.9, 95% CI 2.1-19.5 (p< 0.01). There were no differences between the treatment with 2 OL DES stents and the treatment with BMS/DES. Conclusion: Overlapping stent technique is a common practice in our cath lab, mainly driven by an initial unfavorable result with the first stent. The reported findings suggest that midterm results are better when at least on of the imbricated stents is These results are in agreement with recent reports on the subject.

Asociación entre enfermedad metabólica y severidad de aterosclerosis coronaria evaluada por Score de Gensini / Association between metabolic disease and the severity of coronary artery disease measured by Gensini Score

Introducción: La asociación entre cardiopatía coronaria (CC) y estados de disglicemia está bien establecida. Sin embargo, aún cuando la diabetes mellitus (DM) corresponde a uno de los principales factores de riesgo para CC, la asociación con el síndrome metabólico (SM) parece menos clara. Nuestro objetivo fue evaluar el grado de compromiso aterosclerótico del árbol coronario de acuerdo a la existencia de SM y DM. Pacientes y método: Se analizó los datos de 413 pacientes sometidos a coronariografía electiva en el período de un año. Se dividió la muestra en 3 grupos: pacientes diabéticos, pacientes con SM (no diabéticos) y pacientes sin enfermedad metabólica (no SM, no DM). Se consideró como portador de CC a todo paciente con estenosis >50 por ciento en cualquier arteria coronaria, la severidad de la enfermedad coronaria fue medida por el Score de Gensini. Se utilizó análisis de varianza (Barlett) con comparación múltiple de Scheffe y prueba no paramétrica de Krus-kal-Wallis en aquellos grupos con varianzas distintas. El protocolo fue aprobado por el Comité Ético Científico del Servicio de Salud Araucanía Sur. Resultados: La edad promedio fue 63.8 +/- 11,17 años. La prevalencia de SM fue 38 por ciento (n=158), DM 45 por ciento (n=186) y no tenían alteraciones metabólicas 17 por ciento de los pacientes (n=69). La prevalencia global de enfermedad coronaria fue 52,7 por ciento. La prevalencia en los distintos grupos fue 33.9 por ciento en aquellos sin enfermedad metabólica, 52.2 por ciento en los portadores de SM y 62.2 por ciento en los pacientes con DM (p=0.001). En cuanto a la severidad de la CC, el score de Gensini fue 18, 22,04 y 29,6 respectivamente (p=0,04). Conclusiones: Este estudio observacional sugiere que, comparados con sujetos sin enfermedad metabólica tanto la prevalencia de CC, como su severidad son mayores en pacientes con SM aislado y mayores aún en portadores de DM.

Introduction: The association between coronary artery (CAD) and dysglicemia is well established. Diabetes (DM) is recognized as one of the most important coronary risk factors, but the association of CAD and metabolic syndrome (MS) is less well defined. Our objective was to evaluate the degree of coronary atherosclerotic disease in relation to the presence of MS and DM . Patients and Method: The data of 413 patients electively studied with coronary angiography over a period of one year was analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups: Patients with DM, patients with MS (without DM) and patients without a metabolic disorder (no DM, no MS). The severity of CAD was measured by the Gensini Score. Results: Mean age was 63,8 +/-11,17 years. The prevalence of patients with MS was 38 percent (n=158), with DM 45 percent (n=186) and without a metabolic disorder 17 percent (n=69). The global prevalence of CAD was 52,7 percent. The prevalence of CAD in the different groups was as follows: Absence of metabolic disease 33.9 percent, patients with MS 52.2 percent and patients with DM 62.2 percent (p< 0.001). Conclusions: This observational study suggests that, compared to subjects without metabolic disease, the prevalence and severity of CAD are higher in patients with MS and even higher in patients with DM.