A prospective study on the safety and efficacy of excimer laser coronary angioplasty for the treatment of degenerated great saphenous vein graft / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To explore the safety and efficacy of excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) for the treatment of degenerated great saphenous vein graft (SVG). Methods: This is a single-center, prospective, single-arm study. Patients, who were admitted to the Geriatric Cardiovascular Center of Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2022 to June 2022, were consecutively enrolled. Inclusion criteria were recurrent chest pain after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), and coronary angiography confirmed that the SVG stenosis was more than 70% but not completely occluded, and interventional treatment for SVG lesions was planned. Before balloon dilation and stent placement, ELCA was used to pretreat the lesions. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination was performed and postoperative index of microcirculation resistance (IMR) were assessed after stent implantation. The technique success rate and operation success rate were calculated. The technique success was defined as the successful passage of the ELCA system through the lesion. Operation success was defined as the successful placement of a stent at the lesion. The primary evaluation index of the study was IMR immediately after PCI. Secondary evaluation indexes included thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade, corrected TIMI frame count (cTFC), minimal stent area and stent expansion measured by OCT after PCI, and procedural complications (Ⅳa myocardial infarction, no reflow, perforation). Results: A total of 19 patients aged (66.0±5.6) years were enrolled, including 18 males (94.7%). The age of SVG was 8 (6, 11) years. The length of the lesions was greater than 20 mm, and they were all SVG body lesions. The median stenosis degree was 95% (80%, 99%), and the length of the implanted stent was (41.7±16.3)mm. The operation time was 119 (101, 166) minutes, and the cumulative dose was 2 089 (1 378, 3 011)mGy. The diameter of the laser catheter was 1.4 mm, the maximum energy was 60 mJ, and the maximum frequency was 40 Hz. The technique success and the operation success rate were both 100% (19/19). The IMR after stent implantation was 29.22±5.95. The TIMI flow grade of patients after ELCA and stent implantation was significantly improved (all P>0.05), and the TIMI flow grade of all patients after stent implantation was Grade Ⅲ. The cTFC decreased significantly after ELCA (33.2±7.8) and after stent placement (22.8±7.1) than preoperative level (49.7±13.0) (both P<0.001). The minimum stent area was (5.53±1.36)mm2, and the stent expansion rate was (90.0±4.3)%. Perforation, no reflow, type Ⅳa myocardial infarction and other complications were not observed. However, postoperative high-sensitivity troponin level was significantly increased ((67.937±33.839)ng/L vs. (5.316±3.105)ng/L, P<0.001). Conclusion: ELCA is safe and effective in the treatment of SVG lesions and could improve microcirculation and ensure full expansion of stent.

Use of double lumen microcatheter in interventional treatment of chronic total occlusion lesions at bifurcation / 中国介入心脏病学杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of double lumen microcatheters in chronic coronary artery total occlusion(CTO)lesions at bifurcation during percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI).Methods From October 2013 to March 2015,we retrospectively analysed the application of double lumen microcatheter with bifurcation CTO lesions and reviewed the patients' clinical features,coronary angiography,intervention operation success rate,complications rates and incidence of major adverse cardiac events(including all-cause death,nonfatal myocardial infarction and target vascular remodeling).Results Twenty-three CTO lesions at bifurcation were treated with double lumen microcatheters,stenting were performed in 21 lesions and 2 lesions only received PTCA due to small blood vessel size.The operation success rate was 100％.All the 11 right coronary lesions and 3 left coronary lesions were managed using single stenting technique.Double stenting strategy was used in 9 left coronary lesions including 4 cases with mini-crush technique,4 cases with modified culottes technique and one case with modified T technique.All double stenting procedures were completed by kissing balloon expansion.There was no major adverse cardiac event occured during and after operation.Conclusion Double lumen microcatheters are useful in PCI treatment of bifurcation CTO lesions.

Analyses of super-response to cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with congestive heart failure: a multiple center trial / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the incidence of super-response and the potential predictors related to super-response after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with congestive heart failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>190 patients [145 men and 45 women;age: (60.48 ± 11.91) years] underwent CRT between March 2001 and March 2012 were enrolled in this multi-center trial, of which, 54 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and 136 patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. These patients were followed up from 6 months to 11 years (mean 58 months) post CRT.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ten patients died within 6 months post CRT, the others were followed up for more than 6 months. At 6-month follow-up, 51 patients were identified as CRT super-responders (28.33%), 75 patients were CRT responders (41.67%) and 29 patients were CRT non-responders (16.11%), and 25 patients were CRT negative responders (13.89%). Super-response occurred more frequently in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy patients, while non-response most commonly occurred in ischemic cardiomyopathy patients (P < 0.05); patients in the negative response group had higher serum creatinine level than other groups (P < 0.05) , and patients in the non-response group and negative response group had higher pulmonary artery pressure than patients in the super-response group (P < 0.05); the average QRS duration was ≥ 160 ms before CRT, and the mean decrease was around 30 ms after CRT in the super-response group while the average QRS duration was 139 ms before CRT, and the mean reduction was around 8 ms after CRT in the negative response group (P < 0.05). LV lead position in the super-response group was usually in the middle and base of the heart, while in the negative response group it was more commonly located in the apex of the heart (P < 0.01) .</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>LV lead located at the middle and pre-CRT ORS duration ≥ 160 ms are associated with super-response post CRT procedure in this patient cohort.</p>

Causes of non-response to cardiac resynchronization therapy in heart failure patients with permanent atrial fibrillation / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the long-term effects and analyze causes of non-response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in heart failure (HF) patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-three patients with HF and AF [29 men, mean age (61 ± 10) years, NYHA class III or IV, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35%, QRS ≥ 120 ms in 31 cases] underwent bi-ventricular pacing (n = 26) or bi-ventricular pacing and atrioventricular node ablation (AVN-ablation, n = 7) were included in this study. Non-response was defined: the increase of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was less than 15%. Patients were followed-up for 4 years.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Six patients died during follow up. Non-responder to CRT was observed in 6 out of 27 survived patients (22.22%). Six out of 7 patients underwent AVN-ablation were in responder group and 1 in non-responder group. Comparing with responder group, the baseline LVEF was significantly higher (37% vs. 32%, P = 0.003), and the history of HF was significantly longer (6.3 years vs. 4.1 years, P = 0.039), pulmonary artery pressure was significantly higher (53 vs. 32 mm Hg, P = 0.027), bi-ventricular pacing percentage (BIVP%) was significantly lower (75.86% vs. 91.73%, P = 0.007) in non-responder group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Higher LVEF, longer HF history, higher pulmonary artery pressure and lower BIVP% are factors linked with non-responses to CRT in this patient cohort. CRT plus AVN-ablation is associated with high response rate to CRT in this patient cohort.</p>