Clinical outcomes of TAVI with the Myval balloon-expandable valve for non-calcified aortic regurgitation

BACKGROUND

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in non-calcified aortic regurgitation (NCAR) is an off-label procedure. The balloon-expandable Myval includes extra-large sizes (30.5 mm and 32 mm) of interest in this setting.

AIMS

We aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of Myval in NCAR.

METHODS

This was an international, multicentre, observational study that enrolled all consecutive patients with symptomatic severe NCAR undergoing TAVR with the Myval device. The images were centrally analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 113 patients were recruited, 64.6% were men, the mean age was 78.4±7.5 years, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 2.7±1.7%. Aortic root dilatation was present in 59.3% of patients, 7.1% were bicuspid, and the mean annular area was 638.6±106.0 mm2. The annular area was beyond the recommended range for extra-large sizes in 2.6% of cases, and additional volume was added in 92% (median 4 cc, up to 9 cc). The extra-large sizes were used in 95 patients (84.1%), and the mean oversizing was 17.9±11.0%. The technical success rate was 94.7%; the rate of residual ≥moderate aortic regurgitation was 8.9%, and the pacemaker rate was 22.2%. There were no cases of annular rupture, cardiac tamponade, or aortic dissection, but in 4 patients (3.5%) valve embolisation occurred (1 antegrade and 3 ventricular), all in cases with a tapered left ventricle outflow tract (p=0.007). Thirty-day and 1-year mortality were 5.3% and 9.7%, respectively. Technical success was associated with better survival (97.1% vs 72.7%; p=0.012), and valve embolisation was the main determinant of mortality (p=0.047).

CONCLUSIONS

Myval is a feasible and safe option for selected non-operable patients with NCAR and demonstrated good midterm outcomes and lack of impact of oversizing on device durability.

Changes in the treatment strategy following intracoronary pressure wire in a contemporaneous real-life cohort of patients with intermediate coronary stenosis. Results from a nationwide registry

BACKGROUND

Intracoronary pressure wire is useful to guide revascularization in patients with coronary artery disease.

AIMS

To evaluate changes in diagnosis (coronary artery disease extent), treatment strategy and clinical results after intracoronary pressure wire study in real-life patients with intermediate coronary artery stenosis.

METHODS

Observational, prospective and multicenter registry of patients in whom pressure wire was performed. The extent of coronary artery disease and the treatment strategy based on clinical and angiographic criteria were recorded before and after intracoronary pressure wire guidance. 12-month incidence of MACE (cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or new revascularization of the target lesion) was assessed.

RESULTS

1414 patients with 1781 lesions were included. Complications related to the procedure were reported in 42 patients (3.0 %). The extent of coronary artery disease changed in 771 patients (54.5 %). There was a change in treatment strategy in 779 patients (55.1 %) (18.0 % if medical treatment; 68.8 % if PCI; 58.9 % if surgery (p < 0.001 for PCI vs medical treatment; p = 0.041 for PCI vs CABG; p < 0.001 for medical treatment vs CABG)). In patients with PCI as the initial strategy, the change in strategy was associated with a lower rate of MACE (4.6 % vs 8.2 %, p = 0.034).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of intracoronary pressure wire was safe and led to the reclassification of the extent of coronary disease and change in the treatment strategy in more than half of the cases, especially in patients with PCI as initial treatment.

Overlapping versus single long stents in long chronic total occlusions: insights of the Iberian CTO Registry

BACKGROUND

It is unknown whether the availability of long drug-eluting stents modify the PCI strategy of long CTO. To describe the contemporary PCI strategy of long chronic total occlusions (CTO) using overlapping (OS) or single long stents (SS) and to analyze its results.

METHODS

2842 consecutive CTO PCIs were included. T hose with an occlusion length ≥20 mm in which ≥ 1 DES was implanted were analyzed. We compared procedural characteristics and clinical outcomes of CTO treated with OS or SS.

RESULTS

1088 CTO PCIs were analyzed (79.9% males; 64.7±10.6 years). Mean J-score was 2.8 ± 0.9. A SS was used in 38.5% of cases and OS in 61.5%. Total stent length was 64.1±29.9 mm; it was higher in the OS group (OS:79.9±25.5 mm vs SS:38.3±14.7 mm; p<0.0001). Mean number of stents in the OS group was 2.3±1. Very long stents (≥40 mm) were used in 27.4% of cases, more frequently in the OS group (OS:32.4% vs SS:19.3%; p<0.0001). After a mean follow-up of 19±15.9 months, the rate of adverse events (MACE) was 2% (cardiac death:1.6%, myocardial infarction:1.6%, target lesion revascularization:1.9% and stent thrombosis: 0.18%) with no significant differences between both groups. Overlapping was not an independent predictor of MACE.

CONCLUSIONS

In long CTO PCIs, OS is more frequently used than single stenting, especially in more complex procedures. Clinical outcomes at a mid-term follow-up are favorable. Using newer generation DES, overlapping was not an independent predictor of MACE, however a trend toward a higher event rate was observed in the OS group.

Spanish Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Intervention Registry. 30th Official Report of the Interventional Cardiology Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (1990-2020) in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction and objectives

The Interventional Cardiology Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (ACI-SEC) presents its annual activity report for 2020, the year of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

All Spanish centers with catheterization laboratories were invited to participate. Data were collected online and were analyzed by an external company, together with the members of the ACI-SEC.

Results

A total of 123 centers participated (4 more than 2019), of which 83 were public and 40 were private. Diagnostic coronary angiograms decreased by 9.4%, percutaneous coronary interventions by 10.1%, primary percutaneous coronary interventions by 4.1%, transcatheter aortic valve replacements by 0.9%, and left atrial appendage closure by 8.3%. The only procedures that increased with respect to previous years were edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (13.8%) and patent foramen ovale closure (19.4%). The use of pressure wire (5.5%), intravascular imaging devices and plaque preparation devices decreased (with the exception of lithotripsy, which increased by 62%).

Conclusions

In the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the registry showed a marked drop in activity in all procedures except for percutaneous mitral valve repair and patent foramen ovale closure. This decrease was less marked than previously described, suggesting a rebound in interventional activity after the first wave.

Amphilimus- versus zotarolimus-eluting stents in patients with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease (SUGAR trial)

Aim

Patients with diabetes mellitus are at high risk of adverse events after percutaneous revascularization, with no differences in outcomes between most contemporary drug-eluting stents. The Cre8 EVO stent releases a formulation of sirolimus with an amphiphilic carrier from laser-dug wells, and has shown clinical benefits in diabetes. We aimed to compare Cre8 EVO stents to Resolute Onyx stents (a contemporary polymer-based zotarolimus-eluting stent) in patients with diabetes.

Methods and results

We did an investigator-initiated, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial at 23 sites in Spain. Eligible patients had diabetes and required percutaneous coronary intervention. A total of 1175 patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive Cre8 EVO or Resolute Onyx stents. The primary endpoint was target-lesion failure, defined as a composite of cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction, and clinically indicated target-lesion revascularization at 1-year follow-up. The trial had a non-inferiority design with a 4% margin for the primary endpoint. A superiority analysis was planned if non-inferiority was confirmed. There were 106 primary events, 42 (7.2%) in the Cre8 EVO group and 64 (10.9%) in the Resolute Onyx group [hazard ratio (HR): 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44–0.96; P  _{non-inferiority} < 0.001; P  _superiority = 0.030]. Among the secondary endpoints, Cre8 EVO stents had significantly lower rate than Resolute Onyx stents of target-vessel failure (7.5% vs. 11.1%, HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46–0.99; P = 0.042). Probable or definite stent thrombosis and all-cause death were not significantly different between groups.

Conclusion

In patients with diabetes, Cre8 EVO stents were non-inferior to Resolute Onyx stents with regard to target-lesion failure composite outcome. An exploratory analysis for superiority at 1 year suggests that the Cre8 EVO stents might be superior to Resolute Onyx stents with regard to the same outcome.

Clinical trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03321032.

Long-term effects of coronavirus disease 2019 on the cardiovascular system, CV COVID registry: A structured summary of a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Patients presenting with the coronavirus-2019 disease (COVID-19) may have a high risk of cardiovascular adverse events, including death from cardiovascular causes. The long-term cardiovascular outcomes of these patients are entirely unknown. We aim to perform a registry of patients who have undergone a diagnostic nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 and to determine their long-term cardiovascular outcomes.

STUDY AND DESIGN

This is a multicenter, observational, retrospective registry to be conducted at 17 centers in Spain and Italy (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT04359927). Consecutive patients older than 18 years, who underwent a real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV2 in the participating institutions, will be included since March 2020, to August 2020. Patients will be classified into two groups, according to the results of the RT-PCR: COVID-19 positive or negative. The primary outcome will be cardiovascular mortality at 1 year. The secondary outcomes will be acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, pulmonary embolism, and serious cardiac arrhythmias, at 1 year. Outcomes will be compared between the two groups. Events will be adjudicated by an independent clinical event committee.

CONCLUSION

The results of this registry will contribute to a better understanding of the long-term cardiovascular implications of the COVID19.

Contrast FFR plus intracoronary injection of nitro-glycerine accurately predicts FFR for coronary stenosis functional assessment

BACKGROUND

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the "gold standard" for assessing the physiological significance of coronary disease. In the last decade, several alternative adenosine-free indexes have been proposed in order to facilitate the dissemination of the functional evaluation of coronary stenosis. Our aim was to investigate whether radiographic contrast plus intracoronary nitroglycerin (cFFR-NTG) can predict functional assessment of coronary stenosis offering superior diagnostic agreement with FFR compared to non-hyperemic indexes and contrast mediated FFR (cFFR).

METHODS

Three hundred twenty-nine lesions evaluated with pressure wire in 266 patients were prospectively included in this multicenter study.

RESULTS

The ROC curves for cFFR-NTG using an FFR≤0.80 showed a higher accuracy in predicting FFR (AUC=0.97) than resting Pd/Pa (AUC=0.90, P<0.01) and cFFR (AUC=0.93.5, P<0.01). A significant (P<0.01) strong correlation was found between FFR and the four analyzed indexes: Pd/Pa (r=0.78); iFR/RFR (r=0.73); cFFR(r=0.89) and cFFR-NTG (r=0.93). cFFR-NTG showed the closest agreement at Bland-Altman analysis. The cFFR-NTG cut off value >0.84 showed the highest negative predictive value (88%), specificity (91%), sensitivity (94%) and accuracy (92%) of the studied indexes.

CONCLUSIONS

Submaximal hyperemic adenosine-free indexes are an efficient alternative to adenosine for the physiological assessment of epicardial coronary disease. The most accurate index in predicting the functional significance of coronary stenosis using FFR as reference was cFFR-NTG.

Impact of COVID-19 on ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction care. The Spanish experience

Introduction and objectives

The COVID-19 outbreak has had an unclear impact on the treatment and outcomes of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of this study was to assess changes in STEMI management during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods

Using a multicenter, nationwide, retrospective, observational registry of consecutive patients who were managed in 75 specific STEMI care centers in Spain, we compared patient and procedural characteristics and in-hospital outcomes in 2 different cohorts with 30-day follow-up according to whether the patients had been treated before or after COVID-19.

Results

Suspected STEMI patients treated in STEMI networks decreased by 27.6% and patients with confirmed STEMI fell from 1305 to 1009 (22.7%). There were no differences in reperfusion strategy (> 94% treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention in both cohorts). Patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention during the COVID-19 outbreak had a longer ischemic time (233 [150-375] vs 200 [140-332] minutes, P < .001) but showed no differences in the time from first medical contact to reperfusion. In-hospital mortality was higher during COVID-19 (7.5% vs 5.1%; unadjusted OR, 1.50; 95%CI, 1.07-2.11; P < .001); this association remained after adjustment for confounders (risk-adjusted OR, 1.88; 95%CI, 1.12-3.14; P = .017). In the 2020 cohort, there was a 6.3% incidence of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during hospitalization.

Conclusions

The number of STEMI patients treated during the current COVID-19 outbreak fell vs the previous year and there was an increase in the median time from symptom onset to reperfusion and a significant 2-fold increase in the rate of in-hospital mortality. No changes in reperfusion strategy were detected, with primary percutaneous coronary intervention performed for the vast majority of patients. The co-existence of STEMI and SARS-CoV-2 infection was relatively infrequent.

Management of a distal coronary psudoaneurysm using an amplatzer vascular plug II

Coronary pseudoaneurysms are rare complications of coronary perforation or dissection that can progress to rupture and cardiac tamponade. There is no optimal standard treatment, and their management is often guided by individual criteria including the risk of rupture, location in the coronary tree, size and flow in it. All of them must be taken into account when deciding the best treatment strategy. We report a case in which an Amplatzer Vascular Plug II (AVP II) was used successfully to occlude a distal coronary pseudoaneurysm that developed early after rescue angioplasty in a woman with a myocardial infarction due to spontaneous coronary dissection.

Extremely high-pressure dilation with a new noncompliant balloon

Calcified nondilatable lesions remain a challenge for the interventional cardiologist, and they are becoming more frequent in the catheterization laboratory as the overall complexity of interventions increases. Stent underexpansion is the main risk factor for restenosis and thrombosis, which is the most feared complication for the interventionalist.In this report, we present our initial experience (8 patients) with a new noncompliant high-pressure balloon, the OPN NC balloon, a double-layered device. When we used this device at 40 atm, our rate of success was reasonable (75%) and our patients experienced no adverse sequelae. The OPN NC balloon appears to offer a new means of dilating lesions or underexpanded stents when other noncompliant balloons have failed. Safety seems reasonable, even at pressures as high as 40 atm.