Feasibility, efficacy and safety of transbrachial access for interventional therapy on paravalvular leak post surgical valve replacement / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To investigate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of transbrachial access for interventional therapy on prosthetic paravalvular leak (PVL) post surgical valve replacement. Methods: This is a retrospective study. Patients with PVL after surgical valve replacement who underwent interventional therapy via the brachial artery approach in Structural heart disease center of Fuwai hospital between August 2017 and October 2019, were included. All patients underwent puncture of the brachial artery under local anesthesia, angiography and transcatheter closure procedure were performed. The procedure was performed under transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) guidance. Baseline data, operation data and pre-and post-operative TTE examination results were collected and analyzed. Postoperative complications were recorded and operational adverse events were obtained during follow up in the outpatient department after discharge. The operation success rate was calculated, which was defined as the degree of perivalvular regurgitation decrease by 1 grade and above according to TTE without interfering the valve movement and coronary artery blood flow within 30 days after occluder placement. Results: A total of 10 patients were enrolled in this study, the mean age was (57.5±14.6) years, and 6 patients were males. There were 7 cases with aortic PVL, and 3 cases with mitral PVL. Except for one patient who was converted to the femoral vein-transseptal approach, the other 9 patients were successfully implanted with the devices via the brachial artery approach. The operation time was (103.3±34.0) minutes, and there was no need for rigorous bed rest after the operation. The median hospital stay was 7.5 (3.0, 9.8) days. The operation success rate was 9/10 via the brachial artery approach. The differences in the degree of perivalvular regurgitation, New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, left ventricular end diastolic diameter and left atrial diameter before and after operation were statistically significant (all P<0.05). One case developed new hemolysis with renal insufficiency on the second day after procedure and discharged after successful dialysis. Another case experienced complication of brachial artery pseudoaneurysm after procedure and discharged after successful treatment with thrombin injection. The mean follow-up time was (14.3±7.9) months. During the follow-up, NYHA classification remained as Ⅰ/Ⅱ in 9 patients, no operational adverse events were observed. Conclusions: Transbrachial access for interventional therapy on PVL post surgical valve replacement is a feasible, effective, and safe procedure. It has the advantages of simplifying the operation process and reducing postoperative bed rest time.

Efficacy and safety of a parylene-coated occluder for atrial septal defect: a prospective, multi-center, randomized controlled clinical trial / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Nitinol-containing devices are widely used in clinical practice. However, there are concerns about nickel release after nitinol-containing device implantation. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of a parylene-coated occluder vs. a traditional nitinol-containing device for atrial septal defect (ASD).@*METHODS@#One-hundred-and-eight patients with ASD were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to either the trial group to receive a parylene-coated occluder (n = 54) or the control group to receive a traditional occluder (n = 54). The plugging success rate at 6 months after device implantation and the pre- and post-implantation serum nickel levels were compared between the two groups. A non-inferiority design was used to prove that the therapeutic effect of the parylene-coated device was non-inferior to that of the traditional device. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-squared test with adjustment for central effects was used for the comparison between groups.@*RESULTS@#At 6 months after implantation, successful ASD closure was achieved in 52 of 53 patients (98.11%) in both the trial and control groups (95% confidence interval (CI): [-4.90, 5.16]) based on per-protocol set analysis. The absolute value of the lower limit of the 95% CI was 4.90%, which was less than the specified non-inferiority margin of 8%. No deaths or severe complications occurred during 6 months of follow-up. The serum nickel levels were significantly increased at 2 weeks and reached the maximum value at 1 month after implantation in the control group (P  0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The efficacy of a parylene-coated ASD occluder is non-inferior to that of a traditional uncoated ASD occluder. The parylene-coated occluder prevents nickel release after device implantation and may be an alternative for ASD, especially in patients with a nickel allergy.