Coronary stenting is routinely utilized to treat symptomatic obstructive coronary artery disease. However, the efficacy of bare metal coronary stents has been historically limited by restenosis, which is primarily due to excessive neointima formation. Drug-eluting stents (DES) are composed of a stainless steel backbone encompassed by a polymer in which a variety of drugs that inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation and excessive neointima formation are incorporated. DES have significantly reduced the incidence of restenosis but are also associated with a small (~0.5% per year) but significant risk of late stent thrombosis. In that regard, estrogen-eluting stents have also undergone clinical evaluation in reducing restenosis with the additional potential benefit of enhancing reendothelialization of the stent surface to reduce stent thrombosis. Estrogen directly promotes vasodilatation, enhances endothelial healing, and prevents smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation. Due to these mechanisms, estrogen has been postulated to reduce neointimal hyperplasia without delaying endothelial healing. In animal studies, estrogen treatment was effective in decreasing neointimal hyperplasia after both balloon angioplasty and stenting regardless of the method of drug delivery. The first uncontrolled human study using estrogen-coated stents demonstrated acceptable efficacy in reducing late lumen loss. However, subsequent randomized clinical trials did not show superiority of estrogen-eluting stents over bare metal stents or DES. Further studies are required to determine optimal dose and method of estrogen delivery with coronary stenting and whether this approach will be a viable alternative to the current DES armamentarium.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a treatable form of pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. CTEPH (group 4 pulmonary hypertension) is caused by persistent organized thromboembolic obstruction of the pulmonary arteries from incompletely resolved acute pulmonary embolism. CTEPH also may present without prior VTE history, which can contribute to its underrecognition. The true incidence of CTEPH is unclear, but is estimated to be approximately 3% after acute pulmonary embolism. V˙/Q˙ scintigraphy is the best screening test for CTEPH, with CT scan imaging and other advanced imaging methods now playing a larger role in disease detection and confirmation. Perfusion defects on V˙/Q˙ scintigraphy in the setting of pulmonary hypertension are suggestive of CTEPH, but pulmonary angiography and right heart catheterization are required for confirmation and treatment planning. CTEPH potentially is curative with pulmonary thromboendarterectomy surgery, with mortality rates of approximately 2% at expert centers. Advances in operative techniques are allowing more distal endarterectomies to be performed successfully with favorable outcomes. However, more than one-third of patients may be considered inoperable. Although these patients previously had minimal therapeutic options, effective treatments now are available with pharmacotherapy and balloon pulmonary angioplasty. Diagnosis of CTEPH should be considered in all patients with suspicion of pulmonary hypertension. Treatments for CTEPH have advanced with improvements in outcomes for both operable and inoperable patients. Therapy should be tailored based on multidisciplinary team evaluation to ensure optimal treatment response.

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an emerging treatment option for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) who have inoperable, segmental/subsegmental disease, or residual disease after pulmonary endarterectomy. In the past decade, advances in the techniques for BPA have led to better clinical outcomes with improvements in hemodynamics, pulmonary perfusion, exercise tolerance, functional capacity, and quality of life. We present the experience with BPA at our university, the largest CTEPH center in the world, followed by reviewing the published data regarding the efficacy and safety of BPA in patients with CTEPH. There is increasing evidence to support that the initial hemodynamic improvement is sustained for ≥3 years after the procedure. Although infrequent, complications observed with BPA are associated with pulmonary vascular injury or rarely reperfusion pulmonary edema. As the technique for percutaneous pulmonary artery revascularization has improved, the procedural risk and complications have continued to decrease. This promising technique continues to develop, and future research is required to demonstrate the long-term benefits of BPA, standardize the technique, and define a uniform institutional infrastructure for providing BPA as a part of the treatment of CTEPH.

Objective

This meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of bivalirudin compared with unfractionated heparin or enoxaparin plus glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background

Pharmacotherapy for patients undergoing PCI includes bivalirudin, heparin, and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors. We sought to compare ischemic and bleeding outcomes with bivalirudin versus heparin plus GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients undergoing PCI.

Methods

A literature search was conducted to identify fully published randomized trials that compared bivalirudin with heparin plus GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients undergoing PCI.

Results

A total of 19,772 patients in 5 clinical trials were included in the analysis (9785 patients received bivalirudin and 9987 patients received heparin plus GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors during PCI). Anticoagulation with bivalirudin, as compared with heparin plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, results in no difference in major adverse cardiovascular events (odds ratio [OR] 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96 to 1.19), death (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.21), or urgent revascularization (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.30). There is a trend towards a higher risk of myocardial infarction (OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.28) but a significantly lower risk of TIMI major bleeding with bivalirudin (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.69).

Conclusion

In patients who undergo PCI, anticoagulation with bivalirudin as compared with unfractionated heparin or enoxaparin plus GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors results in similar ischemic adverse events but a reduction in major bleeding.

Background

Patients with paradoxical low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis (pLFLG-AS) have high mortality and high degree of TAVR futility. Computed tomography (CT) enables accurate simultaneous right ventricular (RV) and parenchymal lung disease evaluation which may provide useful objective markers of AS severity, concomitant pulmonary comorbidities, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) improvement. However, the prevalence of RV dysfunction and its association with pulmonary disease in pLFLG-AS is unknown. The study objective was to test the hypothesis that pLFLG-AS patients undergoing TAVR have decreased RV function without significant parenchymal lung disease.

Methods

Between August 2016 and March 2020, 194 consecutive AS patients completed high-resolution computed tomography (CT) imaging for TAVR evaluation. Subjects were stratified based on echocardiographic criteria as the study group, pLFLG (n=27), and two consecutive control groups: classic severe, normal-flow, high-gradient (n=27) and normal-flow, low-gradient (NFLG) (n=27) AS. Blinded biventricular function and lung parenchymal disease assessments were obtained by high-resolution CT imaging.

Results

Patient demographics were similar between groups. pLFLG-AS had lower RV ejection fraction (49±10%) compared to both classic severe (58±7%, p<0.001) and NFLG AS (55±65%, p=0.02). There were no significant differences on lung emphysema (p=0.19), air fraction (p=0.58), and pulmonary disease presence (p=0.94) and severity (p=0.67) between groups.

Conclusion

pLFLG-AS patients have lower RV ejection fraction, than classic severe and normal-flow low-gradient AS patients in the absence of significant parenchymal lung disease on CT imaging. These findings support the direct importance of RV function in the pathophysiology of aortic valve disease.

This meta-analysis was undertaken to assess the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting stents (DESs) compared to bare metal stents (BMSs) in saphenous vein graft (SVG) interventions. DESs decrease the risk of target vessel revascularization in native coronary arteries compared to BMSs. The ideal treatment strategy in patients with SVG disease is unknown. A search of the published reports was conducted to identify studies that compared DESs and BMSs in SVG intervention with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. A total of 19 studies (2 randomized trials and 17 registries), including 3,420 patients who had undergone SVG intervention (DESs, n = 1,489 and BMS, n = 1,931), met the selection criteria. The mean length of follow-up was 20 + or - 12 months. Using the fixed effect model, target vessel revascularization was less frequently performed in patients who had undergone SVG intervention with a DES than with a BMS (odds ratio [OR] 0.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49 to 0.72). The incidence of myocardial infarction was lower in patients with a DES than in those with a BMS (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.99). No differences were found in the risk of death (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.02) or stent thrombosis (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.15 to 1.11) between the 2 groups. In conclusion, these findings support the use of DESs in SVG lesions.

Endovascular intervention is an appealing revascularization strategy for iliac artery disease. Atherectomy of the iliac artery is uncommon due to the risk of life-threatening perforation but may be necessary if the iliac lesion is heavily calcified, preventing stent delivery or optimal expansion. We assessed the feasibility and safety of orbital atherectomy for the treatment of iliac artery disease. Demographic data, lesion characteristics, and procedure outcomes for the CONFIRM patients with at least one iliac artery lesion treated with orbital atherectomy (n=62 patients; n=68 lesions) were compared to patients with at least one superficial femoral artery (SFA) lesion treated with orbital atherectomy (n=1570 patients; n=1809 lesions). The procedural complication rate, defined as the composite of flow limiting dissection, perforation, slow flow, vessel closure, spasm, embolism, or thrombosis, was compared in iliac lesions versus SFA lesions. The iliac artery group had more patients with diabetes, shorter lesions, and more severely calcified lesions. The orbital atherectomy run time was significantly shorter in the iliac artery group. Additionally, in the iliac group there was one reported perforation and one reported vessel closure; the rates of slow flow, spasm, embolism, thrombus, and flow limiting dissection were 0%. The overall procedural complication rate was significantly lower in the iliac group (2.9% vs. 11.2%, p=0.03). Orbital atherectomy of the iliac artery is feasible with few reported angiographic complications and compared favorably with the SFA group. Orbital atherectomy may be considered to facilitate the delivery and expansion of a balloon or stent if the iliac artery is calcified.

We present a rare complication of spontaneous thrombus formation on the WATCHMAN delivery system, on both the right- and left-sided systemic circulation. We also describe the multidisciplinary team approach and the use of percutaneous vacuum-assisted aspiration system (AngioVac, AngioDynamics, Latham, New York) for successful thrombus removal. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).

Robotic technology has been used in cardiovascular medicine for over a decade, and over that period its use has been expanded to interventional cardiology and percutaneous coronary and peripheral vascular interventions. The safety and feasibility of robotically assisted interventions has been demonstrated in multiple studies ranging from simple to complex coronary lesions, and in the treatment of iliofemoral and infrapopliteal disease. These studies have shown a reduction in operator exposure to harmful ionizing radiation, and the use of robotics has the intuitive benefit of alleviating the occupational hazard of operator orthopedic injuries. In addition to the interventional operator benefits, robotically assisted intervention has the potential to also be beneficial for patients by allowing more accurate lesion length measurement, stent placement, and patient radiation exposure; however, more investigation is required to elucidate these benefits fully.