Mitral valve therapy still surgical?

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the second most common valvular heart disease after aortic valve stenosis. With increased understanding of the heterogenic pathophysiology of MR, cardiac surgeons have developed various techniques that increase the likelihood of successful mitral valve repair (MVR). Nowadays, a rate of repair >90% may be reached in some mitral valve reference centres. In recent years, the introduction of transcatheter mitral valve intervention techniques has opened up new frontiers in mitral therapy, specifically in patients at high risk for standard surgery. Current percutaneous technologies for MVR have been developed on the basis of some of the surgical principles. Based on c…

Impact of Metabolic Syndrome on Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction: A Single Center Experience

Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) represents a widespread condition and a prevalent cause of ischemic heart disease. Total TIMI frame count (TTFC) can be a good indicator of CMD in different populations. The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of CMD in different populations such as METS patients compared with diabetic and hypertensive patients. The study was carried out on patients with chest pain and/or positive stress test and angiographically undamaged coronary arteries. Our CMD population was divided into three subgroups; patients with arterial hypertension, patients with type II diabetes mellitus and patients with metabolic syndrome. TIMI Frame Count (TFC) and Myocar…

Giant unruptured circumflex coronary artery aneurysms presenting as acute coronary syndrome

Dual guidewire balloon antegrade fenestration and re‐entrytechnique for coronary chronic total occlusions percutaneouscoronary interventions

Objectives:To describe the experience of coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs)percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) using antegrade fenestration and re‐entry(AFR) technique with a dedicated dual guidewire balloon (DGB).Background:Antegrade dissection and re‐entry (ADR) techniques has beenemphasized in recent worldwide CTO consensus documents. We investigated thefeasibility and safety of DGB as a dedicated device to perform guidewire‐based AFR.Methods and Results:Fourteen consecutive patients with complex CTO (J‐CTOscore: 3.1 ± 0.9) underwent DGB‐AFR in the years 2020–2021. DGB‐AFR consists inadvancing the DGB over a guidewire that reached the vessel distal to the CTO in anextra plaqu…

Acute inferior myocardial infarction due to a large thrombus in the Left coronary sinus of valsalva.

Background Masses in the ascending aorta are an uncommon source of coronary embolism: thrombi located on atherosclerotic aortic plaques are the most frequent cause. A floating thrombus, without evidence of ascending aortic pathology has rarely been reported Method We report a case of an unusual aortic route thromboembolism leading ST segment elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). The patient was referred to the Hub Hospital to undergo urgent coronarography. The examination excluded atherosclerotic coronary arteries disease but an unusual persistence of contrast dye was found at the level of non-coronary sinus. The trans-esophageal echocardiography showed a mobile pedunculated echogenic ma…

Coronary Arteries Aneurysms: A Case-Based Literature Review

Coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) is an abnormal dilatation of a coronary artery segment; those coronary artery aneurysms that are very large in size are defined as giant. However, a standardized dimension cut-off to define giant CAAs is still missing. The reported prevalence of coronary aneurysms in the population who underwent coronary angiography ranges from 0.3% to 5%, and often CAAs are found in patient with aneurysms in other sites, such as the ascending or abdominal aorta. In half of the cases an atherosclerotic etiology could be recognized; often, CAA is found in the context of acute coronary syndrome. Seldomly, CAA is found at the autopsy of patients who died due to sudden cardiac dea…

Longitudinal Strain Analysis and Correlation with TIMI Frame Count in Patients with Ischemia with No Obstructive Coronary Artery (INOCA) and Microvascular Angina (MVA)

Background: The aim of the study is to evaluate the subclinical alterations of cardiac mechanics detected using speckle-tracking echocardiography and compare these data with the coronary angiography indices used during coronary angiography in a population of patients diagnosed with ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery (INOCA) and microvascular angina (MVA). Methods: The study included 85 patients admitted to our center between November 2019 and January 2022 who were diagnosed with INOCA compared with a control group of 70 healthy patients. A collection of anamnestic data and a complete cardiovascular physical examination, and echocardiogram at rest with longitudinal strain were perf…

Channel Tracking Guidewire and Technique for Retrograde Approach

Evaluation of the collateral circulation is critical for determining the feasibility of the retrograde approach. When assessing collateral channels it is of paramount importance to take time and review the previous angiogram carefully, for multiple potential collateral pathways, as the predominant collateral may change over time prior to the procedure. Careful review of collaterals prior to the procedure can reduce contrast and radiation dose as well as the duration of the procedure.Retrograde access to the distal vessel can be achieved via septal collaterals, epicardial collaterals (atrial channel), or (patent or occluded) coronary bypass grafts. Generally septals are used more often 65–70…

Coronary Artery Disease in South Asian Patients: Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Pathogenesis and Treatments.

In the last decades a significant increase of the migratory phenomenon from South Asian countries to the Western World has occurred for social, economic and geopolitical reasons. The aim of this review is to describe cardiovascular risk factors, pathogenesis and treatments of coronary artery disease in South Asian patients. It is well established that South Asian populations have a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease and premature onset of myocardial infarction episodes than other populations. This higher predisposition might be caused by genetic factors, common in both South Asian patients residing in their birth country and in those residing abroad, but it may also be due to the …

Intravascular Lithotripsy for Treatment of Calcified Lesions During Carotid Artery Stenting

Purpose: To report the use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in the treatment of calcified carotid artery lesions. Materials and Methods: The records of 21 high-surgical-risk patients (mean age 75.1±8.1 years; 17 men) who were treated at 8 centers for carotid artery stenosis ≥70% were retrospectively reviewed. Twelve patients had a history of cerebrovascular disease. All patients had heavily calcified carotid artery lesions: 19 de novo and 2 in-stent restenoses (ISR). The mean baseline stenosis was 82.3%±9.7%. IVL was utilized at the discretion of the operator, followed by balloon angioplasty. Embolic protection devices were used in all cases. Results: In 19 patients, IVL was followed by s…

Shockwave intravascular lithoplasty for the treatment of calcified carotid artery stenosis: A very early single-center experience

Endovascular treatment of calcified carotid disease represents one of the main challenges for the interventionalists. Plaque calcium load is one of the most important factors affecting the risk of procedural complications. A new tool called Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (S-IVL; Shockwave Medical, Inc.) has been recently approved for the treatment of heavily calcified coronary and lower limb arteries but minimal data exist about the treatment of carotid arteries. We report our early experience of carotid stenting using S-IVL. We report two cases of symptomatic patients with severely calcified carotid artery diseases who were turned down for vascular surgeries. The first case was succes…

Outcome of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention in non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Coronary embolism in a young patient with nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis related to antiphospholipid syndrome

myocardial infarction