Influence of sex on results and consequences of coronary fractional flow reserve in clinical practice: results of a prospective large-scale multicenter registry

Background

Measurement of fractional flow reserve (FFR) is clinically indicated in order to assess the hemodynamic relevance of coronary artery lesions and determine the need for revascularization. Preliminary data sugest that there may be significant differences regarding use and outcome of FFR measurements in men versus women.

Purpose

We therefore analyzed the influence of sex on FFR values and treatment consequences in a large-scale, prospective multicenter registry of consecutive patients undergoing clinically indicated FFR measurements in the setting of chronic or acute coronary syndromes.

Methods

In a large, multicenter prospective registry of patients undergoing FFR, the relationship of stenosis degree to FFR, the influence of FFR on revascularization decisions were compared between male and female patients. (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03055910)

Results

A cohort of 2000 patients from 8 centers was evaluated (73% male, 27% female, median age 69±10 years, 15% acute coronary syndromes). The median number of interrogated lesions was 2 in male and 2 in female patients. A total of 2958 lesions were interrogated by FFR (2156 male, 802 female; 67 LM, 1722 LAD, 646 LCX, 523 RCA). Median stenosis degree was 60% (IQR 50%-70%) in male and, identically, 60% (IQR 50%-70%) in female patients. All the same, median measured FFR values were 0.86 (IQR 0.81–0.92) in male and 0.89 (IQR 0.84–0.93) in female patients (p<0.001). Of all lesions interrrogated, 488/2156 (23%) in men and only 100/802 (12%) in women displayed an FFR value ≤0.80 (p<0.001). The median stenosis degree of lesions with an FFR value ≤0.80 was 70% (IQR 60–80%) in men and 70% (IQR 65–84%) in women (n.s.). In multivariable analysis, stenosis degree, lesion location in LAD, ACS culprit lesion, and male sex were independent predictors of an FFR value ≤0.80. The overall rate of revascularization was 24% in men and 14% in women (p<0.001), driven by lower FFR values in men. In lesions with FFR values ≤0.80, revascularization rate was 94% both in men and in women (n.s.).

Conclusion

Female sex is independently associated with higher FFR values when used to determine the hemodynamic relevance of coronary lesions in the setting of chronic or acute coronary syndromes. Independent of stenosis degree, FFR measurements are significantly less frequently followed by revascularization in women.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Private company. Main funding source(s): St. Jude Medical

Side effects and major adverse cardiac events caused by fractional flow reserve measurement: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 12,215 patients

Background

Current guidelines recommend revascularization based on fractional flow reserve (FFR) in angiographically intermediate coronary stenoses. Side effects of FFR caused by adenosine administration are usually transient with little relevance. However, major adverse cardiac events (MACE), such as coronary artery occlusion, may infrequently occur as a consequence of intracoronary wire manipulation and little is known about their incidence. This systematic review aims to analyze the rate of side effects including MACE caused by FFR measurement as reported in large multicenter studies.

Methods

A PubMed database query for “fractional flow reserve” of the type “multicenter study” identified 348 records. Subsequently, one retracted record was excluded, another record was excluded as it contained no digital object identifier, 52 records were excluded since access could not be obtained, and one was a duplicate. Of the 293 records screened, only 15 contained relevant information on adverse effects or events due to FFR measurement and had included at least 100 patients. To systematically report the frequency of adverse events, the micro average for each event type was calculated across all studies where it was described.

Results

This systematic review includes data from 15 studies with a total of 12,215 patients. Measurement of FFR was successful in 99.1% (5,163 of 5,210). Hyperemia for FFR measurement was usually induced by adenosine, in most cases administered intravenously. Adverse effects are summarized in Figure 1. With 34.5% (778 of 2,257) of patients reporting chest pain or discomfort, this was the most common side effect of adenosine administration. Dyspnea was noted by 20.0% (250 of 1,250) of patients. Heart-rhythm disturbances occurred in 3.3% (185 of 5,646) of patients. More specifically, a transient atrioventricular block was reported in 2.6% (115 of 4,396) of patients, whereas ventricular arrhythmia was considerably less frequent with 0.2% (11 of 5,864). Hypotension was described by 0.9% (14 of 1,574) of patients, vomiting or nausea by 0.9% (11 of 1,250), and bronchospasm by 0.2% (11 of 4,836). MACE were infrequent, but not negligible: the pressure wire used for FFR measurement was reported to cause coronary artery dissection in 0.2% (8 of 4,158) of patients, coronary artery occlusion in 0.2% (4 of 2,381) of patients, and coronary artery perforation in 0.1% (2 of 3,228) of patients.

Conclusions

Chest pain, dyspnea, and transient arrhythmias are commonly experienced by patients in the context of adenosine but bear limited clinical relevance. The analysis of a large patient cohort revealed that MACE caused by vessel injury, while infrequent, occur at a rate of approximately 0.5% and should hence be considered relevant.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Double kissing – crush technique to treat coronary bifurcation lesions: analysis of success rate, procedural times and device usage

Background

The Double Kissing Crush (“DK Crush”) technique is one of the recommended planned 2-stent techniques to treat true coronary bifurcation lesions (Medina 1–1-1, Medina 0–1-1). While some trials demonstrated superiority to other techniques, DK Crush requires a sequence of specific and potentially technically challenging steps. No data exists on the procedural difficulty of the various steps required for DK Crush. We therefore analyzed procedural times and device usage in a systematic fashion.

Methods and results

54 patients (42 male, mean age 67±12 years) intended for treatment with DK Crush were enrolled. Detailed procedural characteristics including exact times and device usage for each step of DK Crush were prospectively measured and analyzed.

DK Crush was successful in 48/54 patients (89%). In two patients stenting technique was changed to T- or TAP-stenting due to anatomical reasons at the moment of positioning of the SB stent. In one patient no balloon could cross the lesion and in another the procedure had to be modified due to coronary perforation directly after pre-dilatation. True failure of DK Crush was observed in two cases: In one case, the first rewiring of the SB, in the other, placement of a balloon for first kissing balloon (KB) maneuver in the SB was not possible. These 6 patients were excluded from further analysis.

Median times for each step were: 1:21min (IQR 0:52min-1:50min) for wiring SB, 1:18min (IQR 0:47min-1:42min) for wiring MV, 1:30min (IQR 0:54min-2:15min) for stent placement in the SB, 0:40min (IQR 0:29min-1:21min) for balloon placement in the MV. First rewiring of the SB after SB stent crush required 1:30min (IQR 0:37min-2:05min), 1st KB placement in the SB took 1:42min (IQR 1:00min-3:13min) and 1st KB placement in the MV required 0:45min (IQR 0:27min-1:19min). Stent placement in the MV required 1:34min (IQR 1:09min-2:40min) and 2nd rewiring of the SB 1:21min (IQR 0:55min-2:04min), 2nd KB placement of the SB 2:08min (IQR 1:01min-3:36min) and 2nd KB placement of the MV 0:50min (IQR 0:34min-1:01min). Final POT was performed in all cases. Median total procedure time was 52:35 min (IQR 00:42:54h-1:01:37h). Additional devices were needed in 10% (3x1, 2x2 balloons) for stent placement in the SB; in 46% (20x1, 1x4 wires) for the first rewiring of the SB and in 49% (20x1, 3x2 balloons) for 1st KB placement in the SB. The 2nd rewiring of the SB required additional wires in 32% (13x1, 2x2 wires) and 54% of the patients required additional balloons for the 2nd KB placement in the SB (20x1, 2x2, 1x3, 2x5 balloons).

Final TIMI flow was III in 97.9%. Complications occurred in 6% (n=3), each showing coronary dissection with TIMI III flow in 2 patients and TIMI I flow in 1 patient after placement of additional stents.

Conclusion

DKMC has a high success rate but is a time-consuming and material-intensive technique. The placement of the 2nd KB in the SB requires most of the procedural time and resources.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Radial versus femoral approach for rotational atherectomy – technical aspects and procedural outcomes

Background

Rotational atherectomy (RA) is a well-established therapy for the treatment of heavily calcified coronary lesions. While the radial approach has evolved into the gold-standard for standard percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), RA is still often performed via a femoral approach. Concerns over guiding size, sheath size, the delivery of the burr as well as the need for a temporary pacemaker play a role in that decision.

Methods

This retrospective analysis includes all patients undergoing RA from 03/2013 to 06/2019 at one institution. We sought to investigate the procedural outcome and the influence of the percutaneous approach.

Results

A total of 228 patients were planned to undergo RA. Based on operator preference, RA was attempted via the radial approach (RAD) in 78 (34.2%) patients and via the femoral approach (FEM) in 150 (65.8%) patients. The procedure failed in 2.6% (RAD 1.3% vs. FEM 3.3%, p=0.359) due to crossing failure of either the RotaWire (n=5) or the burr (n=1).

The left anterior descending was the most frequently treated vessel in the radial group and significantly more often targeted in comparison to the femoral group (LAD: RAD 44.6% vs. FEM 26.5%, p=0.004). All other vessels were similarly often treated in both groups (LM: RAD 13.3% vs. FEM 17.3%, p=0.414; LCX: RAD 15.7% vs. FEM 23.5%, p=0.155; RCA: RAD 25.3% vs. FEM 31.5%, p=0.315; Bypass: RAD 1.2% vs. FEM 1.2%, p=0.984). RAD-RA was significantly more often performed with a 6F sheath in comparison to FEM-RA (RAD 47.4% vs. FEM 16.7%, p<0.001). A 7F sheath was used in 52.6% of the cases for RAD-RA (men: 85.4%, women: 14.6%, p=0.176) and is therefore the most frequently chosen sheath size within that group. A 7F or 8F sheath was used in 75.3%, respectively 8.0% of the cases in the FEM group (7F: p<0.001; 8F: p=0.010 compared to RAD). There were no significant differences regarding the burr sizes (RAD 1.43±0.17mm vs FEM 1.41±0.18mm, p=0.442).

Whereas the placement of a temporary pacemaker was equal in both groups (RAD 20.8% vs. FEM 30.8%, p=0.110), the femoral group showed a higher number of patients with any back-up pacing, permanent or temporary (RAD 24.7% vs. FEM 39.0%, p=0.031). There were no significant differences in terms of fluoroscopy time (RAD 00:24:65±00:12:48 vs. FEM 00:28:33±00:17:05, p=0.180) and the volume of contrast medium (RAD 217.2±96.3ml vs. FEM 192.9±86.0ml, p=0.118). Moreover, procedural complications (RAD 17.9% vs. FEM 18.0%, p=0.992) and access site related complications (RAD 6.4% vs. FEM 10.0%, p=0.363) occurred equivalently in both groups.

Conclusion

This analysis shows that RA via radial access is as safe and successful as via femoral access. Despite the more frequent use of 6F sheaths, burr sizes did not differ. Additionally, neither fluoroscopy time nor contrast volume indicated a higher complexity of the RAD approach.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the procedural and intra-hospital outcome of STEMI patients

Background

While during the COVID-19 pandemic the number of patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) decreased, no change in patient or system delay could be shown due to local lockdown (LD) policy. Not much is known about the influence of LD on procedural details and intrahospital outcome of these patients.

Methods

Data was obtained from 511 patients treated for acute STEMI (24hours from symptom onset) from January 2019 to March 8th 2021 at two primary PCI (pPCI) centers in Germany. Patients presenting as intra-hospital STEMI, patients showing no culprit lesion and patients undergoing direct CABG were excluded. Overall, 456 patients (74% male, mean age 64±12) were included. These patients were divided into two groups: complete lockdown (LD; n=58; March 21st–April 20th 2020 and December 16th 2020–March 7th 2021) and no complete lockdown (No-LD; n=398)).

Results

There were no differences in pre-hospital care between the groups: Telemedicine (LD 23.5% vs. No-LD 34.9%; p=0.11), pre-alarm of the cath-lab staff (LD 59.6% vs. 66.6%, p=0.32) and direct admission to the cath-lab (LD 44.8% vs. No-LD 49.8%, p=0.58) were performed as often as in No-LD times. Neither the pain to first medical contact (LD 188±272 Min vs. No-LD 236±317 Min, p=0.29) nor the door to balloon time (55±54 Min vs. No-LD 49±58 Min, p=0.470) as well as other periods showed any difference.

All over cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR; LD 19.0% vs. No-LD 14.3%, p=0.35) or presentation with cardiogenic shock (25.9% vs 23.9%, p=0.74) was equally presented in both groups. However, left ventricular assist devices were implanted more often during LD (6.9% vs. No-LD 1.8%; p=0.017).

Primary radial access was performed in the majority of the cases (LD 60.3% vs. No-LD 58.8%, p=0.82). During LD the culprit lesion was RCA in most cases (46.6% vs. No-LD LAD 46.7%, p=0.341). Stent thrombosis was not more common in out-of-hospital STEMI patients during LD (6.9% vs. 8.0%, p=0.76). Thrombus aspiration was performed in 10.3% during lockdown (vs. No-LD 4.5%, p=0.06), GP-IIb-IIIa inhibitors were not administered more often (LD 19.0% vs. No-LD 19.4%, p=0.92) and no reflow phenomenon was not seen more frequent (LD 20.7% vs. No-LD 21.3% p=0.91). TIMI III flow could be established in the majority of the cases (LD 86.0% vs. No-LD 91.5%, p=0.20).

During further hospital stay, neither the frequency of ventilator (LD 17.2% vs. No-LD 17.0%, p=0.98) nor vasopressor use (LD 20.7% vs. No-LD 20.1% p=0.925) differed. Left ventricular function (47±13% vs. No-LD 45±12%; p=0.34) and maximum creatinkinase (LD 1827±1687 U/l vs. No-LD: 2292±4100 U/l, p=0.40) showed no difference between the groups as did intrahospital death (LD 10.3% vs. No-LD 11.6%, p=0.79).

Conclusion

Despite the known decline in STEMI patients during LD periods, patient care, procedural details and inta-hospital outcome of the ones presenting to a pPCI hospital do not change during LD periods.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Comparison of fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio for the hemodynamic assessment of jailed side branches in bifurcation stenting

Background

Provisional side-branch stenting strategy is one of the preferred strategies for treatment of bifurcation lesions. Whereas using fraction flow reserve (FFR) for the physiologic assessment of jailed side branches is well studied, the reliability of resting indices such as instantaneous wave free ratio (iFR) is unknown.

Methods

Consecutive patients with provisional stenting of a bifurcation and a jailed side branch were enrolled in this study. FFR and iFR were measured and, after assuring absence of baseline shift and drift, both measurements were repeated after 3 minutes. Hyperemia was induced by intra-coronary adenosine with a dose of 48μg for the right coronary artery and 96μg for the left coronary artery. Cut-off for the assumed functional significance of a stenosis was 0.80 for FFR and 0.89 for iFR. The decision to treat the side branch was left to the interventionalist's discretion.

Results

37 jailed side branches in 36 patients (age 68.4±8.2; male 81% (n=29)) were consecutively enrolled in the study. The main vessel was the left main in 3% (n=1), the left anterior descending (LAD) in 65% (n=24), the diagonal branch (D1) in 3% (n=1), the left circumflex artery (LCX) in 24% (n=9) and the right coronary artery (RCA) in 5% (n=2). The Medina classification revealed true bifurcation stenosis defined as Medina 1–1-1 prior to treatment in 35% (n=13).

FFR showed 35% (n=13) of the stenosis to be functionally significant with a high reproducibility of the results (r=0.986). FFR showed a low correlation with angiographic assessment (r=−0.477). iFR indicated hemodynamic relevance in 38% of lesions (n=14) with a high reproducibility (r=0.967) and also correlated poorly with angiographic assessment (r=−0.271). iFR was found to closely correlate with FFR in jailed side branches (r=0.720, Figure 1A). Bland-Altman analysis showed iFR and FFR agreed with a mean difference between FFR and iFR of −0.054±0.146. In 81% (n=30) FFR and iFR showed the same results regarding functional significance. In 8% (n=3) FFR was ≤0.80 and iFR >0.89, in 11% (n=4) FFR was >0.80 and iFR was ≤0.89 (Figure 1B).

Side branch treatment was performed in 32% (n=12). All of these lesions showed functional significance in FFR or iFR. Stent implantation was performed in 8% (n=3), balloon angioplasty in 19% (n=7) and balloon angioplasty with a drug-eluting balloon in 5% (n=2).

Conclusions

The results of this study confirm the poor correlation of angiographic and functional assessment of coronary artery stenoses. Our data show close agreement of iFR and FFR in stent-jailed side branches. Therefore, iFR can be considered as a reliable technique for guidance of provisional side branch stenting.

Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Early single center experience with a novel transcatheter anuloplasty system for the treatment of functional tricuspid regurgitation

Background

Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is increasingly recognized as relevant, but undertreated clinical entity. Since surgical repair or replacement of the tricuspid valve is associated with high mortality, many patients with with severe tricuspid regurgitation are not referred to surgery. Transcatheter anuloplasty is a new interventional treatment option for tricuspid regurgitation. We report the outcome of a consecutive single-center series of 11 patients treated with this technique.

Methods

Clinical and procedural data as well as mid-term outcome of a series comprising 11 consecutive patients (9 female, mean age 80±5 years, mean LV-EF 53±7, mean PAP 27±4 mmHg) who underwent transcatheter tricuspid anuloplasty for secondary tricuspid regurgitation in a 12-month period (Octover 2018–October 2019) were systematically collected, including pre- and post-procedural transthoracic/transesophageal echocardiogryphy (TTE/TEE). Patients were selected for the procedure based on clinical, echocardiographic and CT findings. All patients were treated using the Cardioband® system (Hersteller, Ort) in general anesthesia under 4D-TEE guidance.

Results

Mean procedural duration was 259±46 min across all 11 patients. Device success was 91%. In one patient extensive tricuspid annular excursions prevented anuloplasty band implantation. The mean grade of TR severity was reduced from 3.5 to 2.1, p=0,00016 (vena contracta decreased from 11±4 to 6±3 mm, p=0,0047).73% of all patients achieved pos-procedure TR severity ≤2. Procedural complications were infrequent: one patient required coronary stent implantation to the RCA kinking and in an further patient, transient 3rd degree AV bock occurred during the procedure. No patient died during the index hospital stay or during the follow up period (median follow up of 4 months). The NYHA classification improved from a median of III before the procedure to a median of II at follow-up (p=0,00022).

Conclusion

Transcatheter tricuspid annuloplasty permits effective treatment of functional tricuspid regurgitation with a low complication rate and sustained symptomatic improvement.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Changes of tricuspid valve geometry after interventional implantation of an anuloplasty band

Background

Implantation of an anuloplasty band (Cardioband, Edwards Lifesciences) is a new treatment option for patients with functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR). The initial clinical results are promising. Nevertheless very few details about the mechanism of reducing TR beyond the basic principle of reducing the annular perimeter are known. Therefore we sought to study the changes of the tricuspid valve geometry after Cardioband implantation.

Methods

In all patients, that were treated by Cardioband implantation for tricuspid valve implantation at our institution, fluoroscopic images of the implant were optained at an angle, which would correspond to an echocardiographic “enface” view of the tricuspid valve. In these images the area enclosed by the implant, the perimeter of this area, the septal to lateral diameter, the anterior to posterior diameter and the length of the implant before and after contracting the band was measured. In all patients an echocardiographic evaluation of the tricuspid regurgitation before and after cardioband implantation was performed. These clinical finding were correlated to changes of the above mentioned dimension in the fluoroscopic images.

Results

Between October 2018 und January 2019 17 patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation were treated by Cardioband implantation. In one patient the procedure had to be aborted due to extensive movement of the tricuspid annulus. In the remaining 16 patients (mean age 78±8 years, 7 males) the procedure could be completed successfully and the required measurements were done. The mean severity grade (5 grade scale) of the TR was 3.5±0.6 before and 2±0.7 (p<0.0001) after the implantation, the corresponding mean vena contracta changed from 12±4 mm to 6±3 mm (p<0.000, 51% reduction). The area decreased after band contraction from 10.6±1.4 cm2 to 4.7±1.4 cm2 (p<0.0001; 56% reduction), the perimeter from 13.4±1.8 cm to 9.6±1.6 cm (p<0.0001; 28% reduction) the septal to lateral diameter from 2.8±0.5 cm to 1.6±0.2 cm (p<0.0001; 40% reduction), the anterior to posterior diameter from 4.8±0.9 cm to 3.8±1.0 cm (p<0.005; 19% reduction) and the measured device length from 8.6 cm±1.0 to 5.8±0.8 cm (p<0.0001; 32% reduction). The strongest correlation was seen between area reduction and reduction of the vena contracta (r=0.5), reduction of the septal to lateral dimension as well as the reduction of the device length had a weaker correlation (r=0.3 and r=0.2). The reduction of the anterior posterior diameter and perimeter reduction showed no relevant correlation with regard to TR reduction.

Conclusion

In our patient population Cardioband implantation lead to effective TR reduction. Area reduction and reduction of the septal to lateral diameter of the tricuspid valve seem to have the strongest impact. These findings may be considered when implantations techniques are being optimized or when new devices for TR treatment are developed.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

P3376Software-based automated CT analysis for planning TAVI-Procedures: Systematic validation against expert and novice human interpretation

Introduction

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) is an established modality for planning TAVI procedures.

We validated CT parameters measured by automated software analysis and by newly trained readers against expert readers.

Methods

Consecutive patients with symptomatic severe aortic valve stenosis referred for CT assessment of the aortic root prior to TAVI were included in this analysis. Measurements were performed manually by an expert reader, a newly trained reader as well as semi-automatically using a commercially available workstation. Manual measurements were performed as per clinical standard. For semi-automatic analysis, CT data sets were exported to a dedicated workstation with fully automated detection of the aortic annulus plane.

Results

Out of 159 consecutive patients, 146 patients were included in this analysis (83+10 years). The median annulus area for expert reader, newly trained reader and software measurement was 468 mm2, 511 mm2 and 513 mm2, respectively (p=0.28) whereas the mean annulus diameter showed a mean±SD of 25.6±2 mm, 25.5±2 mm and 25.6±2 mm, respectively, p=0.47. Agreement between expert and newly trained reader for annulus area was good with Bland-Altman analysis showing a systematic overestimation of the annulus area for the newly trained reader of 16 mm2 (95% limits of agreement 42 to −74 mm2) and for automatic software of 20 mm2 (95% limits of agreement 60 to −99 mm2). Assuming an annulus area-based recommendation for a balloon-expandable Sapien 3 prosthesis (23, 26 or 29 mm prosthesis), kappa statistics revealed moderate agreement between expert measurement, newly trained reader and software measurement (κ 0.60 for newly trained reader, κ 0.58 for software measurement, p<0.0001 for all). The time needed for annulus adjustment measurement for the newly trained reader compared to software measurement was 2±0.6 minutes vs. 1±0.5 minutes, respectively, p<0.0001). The software correctly identified the annulus plane without reader correction in 49% of cases and in 51% of cases manual correction of the cusp insertion point or annular tracing had to be performed. Agreement between expert predicted angulation and software predicted angulation was excellent in 55%, good in 29% vs. 31%, moderate in 11% vs. 6% and fair in 5% vs. 8% for LAO/RAO orientation, CAU/CRA orientation, respectively (assuming excellent agreement when difference: <5°, good agreement: 5–10°, moderate agreement: 10–15° and fair agreement: >15°).

Conclusion

Novice human interpretation manually and with semi-automatic assessment of the aortic root for planning TAVI procedures is feasible with good agreement with expert measurement for annulus dimensions and prediction of implantation angles, however with a trend for systematic overestimation of the annulus area. For semi-automatic assessment, reader correction of cusp insertion point and annular dimensions have to corrected for in 50% of cases

6114Indications, procedural parameters, complications and consequences of fractional flow reserve measurements in a multicenter cohort

Background

Determination of the Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) has become part of routine clinical practice. Contemporary clinical use, consequences as well as complications in consecutive, large cohorts have not been thoroughly investigated. We report the results of the prospective Fractional Flow Reserve Fax Registry F (FR2) conducted in Germany.

Purpose

To systematically analyze indications, procedural parameters, complications and consequences of intracoronary pressure measurements in a large contemporary cohort.

Methods

Data of 2000 consecutive patients undergoing clinically indicated FFR, iFR or pd/pa measurements in 8 interventional centres in Germany were prospectively collected in a systematic fashion. Data included basic patient characteristics, procedural aspects of intracoronary pressure measurements, associated complications, visual stenosis degree, measurement results and treatment decisions.

Results

Mean patient age was 68±11 years, 73% of patients were male. Of all patients, 300 patients (15%) had an acute coronary syndrome (STEMI: 9; NSTEMI: 94; unstable angina: 197) and 1002 patients (50%) had undergone previous revascularization. A mean of 1.7±0.9 measurements were performed per patient, for which an average of 1.02 pressure wires were required (more than 1 wire in 64 patients). For all 3373 interrogated lesions, median stenosis degree was 60%. Vasodilator-free measurements were performed in 415/3373 cases (12%, iFR: 346; pd/pa: 69). For vasodilation, i.v. adenosine was used in 396 cases (13%), i.c. adenosine in 2628 cases (87%), and other drugs in 10 cases (0.3%). Measurement was performed before potential revascularization in 3232 cases (96%) and during or following PCI in 141 cases. In 2958 lesions analyzed by FFR, mean FFR was 0.87, with 588 FFR measurements ≤0.80 (19.8%). Median FFR values were higher for i.c than i.v. adenosine administration (0.88 vs. 0.84), but not significantly different after adjustment for stenosis degree. In 735 cases (20.2%), intracoronary pressure measurement was followed by revascularization measures, while in 2637 cases (79.8%), no revascularization or no further revascularization was performed. In 36 out of 117 stenoses visually estimated to be ≥90%, revascularization was deferred following pressure measurement (31%). In 75 out of 2958 lesions analyzed by FFR, revascularization was performed even though FFR was >0.80 (3%). Severe complications (vessel dissection or occlusion) occurred in 5 out of 2000 patients as a consequence of intracoronary pressure measurement, resulting in death of 1 patient.

Conclusion

In clinical practice, the majority of intracoronary pressure measurements are performed in stenoses of intermediate angiographic severity and revascularization is deferred in approximately 80% of lesions. Vasodilator-free measurements are infrequent and route of adenosine administration has no effect on results. Complication rate is low but not negligible.

Acknowledgement/Funding

Abbott Vascular

P815Tako-Tsubo Cardiomyopathy: clinical correlations of typical and atypical left ventricular contraction patterns

Background

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is diagnosed in 1–2% of all patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Clinical differences in individuals presenting with either the typical (apical) or atypical (midventricular, basal and focal) localization of left ventricular contraction abnormalities are not well understood.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 102 consecutive patients diagnosed with TCM based on clinical presentation, coronary angiography, and laevocardiography. Patients with different contraction abnormality patterns were compared regarding sex, clinical presentation, trigger for TCM, LV-function and LV enddiastolic pressure (LVEDP) as well as coronary artery disease.

Results

Of all TCM 102 patients, 69 (68%) presented with the typical pattern of apical contraction abnormality. 33 patients (32%) had an atypical pattern: 22 (22%) with the midventricular type, 2 (2%) with the basal type and 9 (9%) with a focal type. There was no difference in sex distribution among the different types of TCM (female: typical 86% vs atypical 85% p=0.83).

Presentation as a ST-elevation ACS was more common in patients with atypical compared to typical TCM (21% vs. 17%; p=0.85), but without statistical significance. Cardiogenic shock (typical 6% vs atypical 3%; p=0.91) as well as intra-hospital death (typical 3% vs atypical 3%; p=0.56) were rare in both types.

A trigger was not more common in patients with typical TCM (58% vs atypical 55%; p=0.91). The trigger was more often physical in typical (73%) and atypical TCM (78%) than psychological, but the distribution did not differ between the two types (p=0.92).

83.6% of the patients showed an impaired LV-EF. Median LV-EF in patients with typical TCM (35% (IQR 25–40)) tended to be lower than in patients with atypical TCM (40% (IQR 25–40); p=0.63; LV-EF ≤30% typical TCM 45% vs. atypical TCM 39%; p=0.75). In 72% (73/102) of the patients the LVEDP was determined. In 75% (55/73) the LVEDP was elevated (>15mmHg). LVEDP tended to be more often elevated in patients with typical TCM (83% vs. atypical 52%; p=0.11).

Extent of coronary artery disease did not differ in the different types of TCM. Coronary stenosis >50% was rare (typical TCM 20% vs atypical TCM 9%; p=0.26), whereas exclusion of coronary artery disease was common in both types (typical TCM 71%; atypical TCM 76%; p=0.79).

Conclusion

While an apical contraction anomaly is the most common type of presentation in TCM, atypical contraction patterns are found in 32% of the patients. Overall, psychological triggers are not found as frequently in TCM as previously described. Patients with typical and atypical TCM do not differ in clinical presentation, LV-EF, LVEDP and extent of coronary artery disease.