Safety and Efficacy of Everolimus-Eluting Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Versus Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents in Real-World Practice

Background@#The risk of device thrombosis and device-oriented clinical outcomes with bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) was reported to be significantly higher than with contemporary drug-eluting stents (DESs). However, optimal device implantation may improve clinical outcomes in patients receiving BVS. The current study evaluated mid-term safety and efficacy of Absorb BVS with meticulous device optimization under intravascular imaging guidance. @*Methods@#The SMART-REWARD and PERSPECTIVE-PCI registries in Korea prospectively enrolled 390 patients with BVS and 675 patients with DES, respectively. The primary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF) at 2 years and the secondary major endpoint was patientoriented composite outcome (POCO) at 2 years. @*Results@#Patient-level pooled analysis evaluated 1,003 patients (377 patients with BVS and 626 patients with DES). Mean scaffold diameter per lesion was 3.24 ± 0.30 mm in BVS group.Most BVSs were implanted with pre-dilatation (90.9%), intravascular imaging guidance (74.9%), and post-dilatation (73.1%) at proximal to mid segment (81.9%) in target vessel.Patients treated with BVS showed comparable risks of 2-year TVF (2.9% vs. 3.7%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.283, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.487–3.378, P = 0.615) and 2-year POCO (4.5% vs. 5.9%, adjusted HR, 1.413, 95% CI, 0.663–3.012,P = 0.370) than those with DES. The rate of 2-year definite or probable device thrombosis (0.3% vs. 0.5%, P = 0.424) was also similar. The sensitivity analyses consistently showed comparable risk of TVF and POCO between the 2 groups. @*Conclusion@#With meticulous device optimization under imaging guidance and avoidance of implantation in small vessels, BVS showed comparable risks of 2-year TVF and device thrombosis with DES.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Device Implantation in a Patient with Cardiogenic Shock under Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support

65-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with acute decompensated heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and severe mitral regurgitation. Electrocardiography revealed a typical left bundle branch block and atrial fibrillation. Her condition deteriorated despite administering high-doses of inotropes and vasopressors. Pending a decision to therapy, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was performed when the patient underwent a cardiogenic shock. Although the hemodynamic status stabilized with ECMO support, weaning the patient from ECMO was not possible. Thus, we decided to perform cardiac resynchronization with defibrillator implantation as a “rescue” therapy. Five days post-implantation, the patient was successfully weaned from ECMO.

A case of ruptured hepatic angiomyolipoma in a young male

A 31-year-old male visited a local hospital due to sudden-onset severe abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a solid cystic mass with a size of approximately 12 cm and exhibiting both hemorrhage and fluid collection in the pelvic cavity. Emergency angiography and embolization were performed, and a large hepatic tumor was subsequently surgically resected. The tumor cells stained positive for human melanoma black-45 and smooth-muscle actin, and the pathologic diagnosis was hepatic angiomyolipoma. This case report also discusses the spontaneous rupture of a hepatic angiomyolipoma.