Percutaneous closure of the left atrial appendage for thromboembolic prevention in atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia in clinical practice. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality due to its thromboembolic potential, which makes thromboembolic prevention particularly important. Warfarin has been the first-line therapy for this purpose, but it has various limitations and is often contraindicated or underutilized. The fact that thrombi are frequently located in the left atrial appendage in atrial fibrillation led to the development of percutaneous closure for thromboembolic prevention. This article examines the current evidence on percutaneous closure of the left atrial appendage by reviewing the results of the numerous clinical trials on the technique.

Perforation of the right ventricle during cardiac resynchronisation therapy upgrade not related to a coexisting persistent left superior vena cava.

Right ventricle (RV) perforation is a complication that may arise during device implants. We present the case of a patient undergoing cardiac resynchronisation therapy upgrade that was complicated with an RV perforation. The lead was successfully repositioned with a good final outcome. Despite being uncommon, persistence of the left superior vena cava is the most frequent venous cardiac anomaly and may pose challenges during the implant procedure, namely when the right superior vena cava (RSVC) is absent. Still, in this patient it was not related to the event, as the leads were advanced through the RSVC.

[Intracardiac echocardiography imaging for device closure of atrial septal defects--a single-center experience]. / Encerramento percutâneo de defeitos do septo interauricular guiado por ecocardiograma intracardíaco--a experiência de um centro.

INTRODUCTION: Device closure of interatrial communications has become a well-established technique to treat left-to-right shunt associated with atrial septal defect (ASD) and to prevent paradoxical embolism in patients with patent foramen ovate (PFO). Guidance by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the standard practice but intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is a feasible and safe alternative for monitoring these procedures. OBJECTIVES: To report our experience in the percutaneous closure of ASD and PFO guided by ICE. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with ASD or PFO who underwent percutaneous closure guided exclusively by ICE between January 2008 and December 2010. All patients were followed clinically with regular echocardiographic evaluation (at discharge, one month, three, six and twelve months) to exclude residual shunt and device malposition. RESULTS: A total of 127 patients (mean age 46.6 +/- 12.2 years; 71% female) underwent transcatheter device closure of ASD or PFO during the study period. Device deployment with ICE monitoring was 100% successful, with a low rate of complications and eliminating the need for additional imaging techniques. CONCLUSIONS: ICE provides anatomical detail of ASD/PFO and cardiac structures, facilitating congenital cardiac interventional procedures. It eliminates the major drawbacks associated with TEE and enables the interventional cardiologist to control all aspects of the procedure without relying on additional echocardiographic support.

[Rotational atherectomy in the drug-eluting stent era: a recent single-center experience]. / O ressurgimento da aterectomia rotacional na era dos stents farmacoativos - A experiência de um centro.

INTRODUCTION: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of heavily calcified lesions is a challenge for the interventional cardiologist and is associated with a high rate of restenosis and target lesion revascularization (TLR). Adequate lesion preparation by rotational atherectomy followed by drug-eluting stent implantation has shown favorable results. OBJECTIVE: To report the recent experience of our center with rotational atherectomy (RA) of complex and heavily calcified coronary lesions. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients who underwent PCI with RA in our center between January 2009 and December 2010. A total of 42 patients were included, 65% of whom had been previously refused for coronary artery bypass grafting due to unfavorable coronary anatomy or high surgical risk. RA was performed using the standard Boston Scientific Rotablator(®) system. The procedure was performed ad-hoc in 50% of patients and transradial access was used in 35%. Data were collected on immediate post-procedural events and major cardiac events during follow-up - cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, TLR and recurrent angina. RESULTS: Of 1650 PCIs performed in a 23-month period from January 2009, 42 (2.5%) involved RA, a total of 42 patients (mean age 70.3±10.1 years, 67% male, 55% diabetic), three of whom had left main disease, six had three-vessel disease, 18 had two-vessel disease and the other 15 had single-vessel disease. Of the lesions treated, 71% were >20 mm long and classified in 69% of cases as type C according to the ACC/AHA lesion classification, 4% being chronic total occlusions. The left anterior descending artery was treated in 56% of the procedures. The mean number of burrs used per lesion was 1.3 and a total of 69 stents were implanted, 81% of which were drug-eluting. During follow-up three patients had recurrent angina, one required TLR and two died due to a cardiovascular event. There was significant clinical improvement in 83% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that rotational atherectomy followed by stenting in heavily calcified lesions can nowadays be performed with high success rates and few complications, extending the possibility of coronary revascularization to a greater number of patients.