Use of SAFARI 2™ as workhorse wire for left-sided structural heart interventions.

BACKGROUND: With the advances in percutaneous treatment technologies, the left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) and the transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip (TMVR) are increasingly being performed today. The SAFARI 2™ guidewire is primarily used during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), our group has also been using it during MitraClip and LAAO procedures. Our clinical study aimed to share our data on the safety and effectiveness for the use of the SAFARI 2™ guidewire during MitraClip or LAAO procedures. METHODS: This study included a total of 1730 patients (948 patients of MitraClip and 782 of LAAO). It was designed as single arm, retrospective, and multicenter between July 2016 and August 2022. SAFARI 2™ guidewire was used exclusively during all the procedures. RESULTS: A total of 1730 patients (male 55.8 %) were included in the study. There was no guidewire-related complications, stroke/transient ischemic attack, bleeding (minor/major/life-threatening), need for cardiac surgery, pneumonia, and vascular dissection/rupture in patients undergoing LAAO. There were 2 device-related pericardial effusions without tamponade. No stroke/transient ischemic attack, bleeding (minor/major/life-threatening), mortality, need for cardiac surgery, pneumonia, guidewire-related complication, pericardial effusion, vascular dissection/rupture, or clip embolization was observed in patients undergoing MitraClip. CONCLUSIONS: By taking advantage of its pre-shaped structure, the SAFARI 2™ guidewire seems to offer a reliable and safe device delivery for both MitraClip and LAAO procedures as a regular work horse wire. Our results should be confirmed by larger randomized or prospective trials.

Review of intravascular lithotripsy for treating coronary, peripheral artery, and valve calcifications.

Management of intracoronary calcium (ICC) continues to be a challenge for interventional cardiologists. There have been significant advances in calcium treatment devices. However, there still exists a knowledge gap regarding which devices to choose for the treatment of ICC. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the principles of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) and clinical data. The technique of IVL will then be compared to alternative calcium treatment devices. Clinical data will be reviewed concerning the treatment of coronary, peripheral artery and valvular calcifications. Controversies to be discussed include how to incorporate IVL into your practice, what is the best approach for treating calcium subtypes, how to approach under-expanded stents, what is the ideal technique for performing IVL, how safe is IVL, whether imaging adds value when performing IVL, and how IVL fits into a treatment program for peripheral arteries and calcified valves.

Open Radial Artery Study.

Radial artery occlusion (RAO) has been the most common postprocedural complication of transradial artery access. The optimal method of prevention of RAO is still lacking. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of patent hemostasis on early (24 hours) and late (2 weeks) RAO prevention. The Open Radial Artery Study was a single-arm, prospective, and multicenter study. The primary end points were early and late RAO at the vascular access site after transradial coronary procedures. Secondary end points were access site hematoma, pseudoaneurysm formation, arteriovenous fistula, and nerve injury. A total of 2,181 patients were analyzed (67% male, mean age 68 years). The mean interventional duration and hemostatic times were 75.6 ± 55.6 and 60 ± 5.6 minutes, respectively. Radial artery spasm occurred in 10% of patients (n = 218). Catheter kinking, radial artery rupture, or dissection were not observed during the procedure. RAO, hematoma, pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula, or nerve damage was not observed in any of the patients in the early or late period. In patients who undergo coronary diagnostic or interventional procedures through transradial artery access, the patent hemostasis method seems a critical step in the prevention of early and late RAO.

Effects of staining and bleaching procedures on the optical and surface properties of CAD-CAM materials.

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of coffee staining and bleaching applications on the optical properties of CAD-CAM blocks, and to provide a three-dimensional visualization of surface changes with atomic force microscope (AFM). METHODS: 80 samples were prepared from four different CAD-CAM blocks: [Cerec (CR), Shofu (SH), Cerasmart (CRS), Lava Ultimate (LU)], and a microhybrid composite resin [Filtek Z250 (Z250)]. After staining, the samples were divided into two subgroups according to bleaching methods: 16% carbamide peroxide (HB), and 40% hydrogen peroxide (OB). Color measurements were performed at baseline (t0), after staining (t1), and after bleaching (t2) to obtain translucency parameters (TP00), color change (ΔE00), and whiteness index (WID) values. Surface roughness analysis (Ra) was performed with AFM after coffee staining and bleaching procedures (at t1 and t2). Data were analyzed with Generalized Linear Model, and Bonferroni correction (P< 0.05). RESULTS: TP00 values increased only in the CRS group after the bleaching application, and the effect of method was again observed only in CRS. While bleaching increased WID values of all groups except CRS, no difference was found between bleaching methods. Regardless of evaluation time, the roughest group is Z250, and the only difference between bleaching methods was observed in the CR group. In conclusion, the effects of staining and bleaching applications on the optical and surface properties of CAD-CAM blocks are material-dependent. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Effective bleaching of discolored CAD-CAM materials was achieved regardless of the bleaching method used, and without any significant adverse effect on the surface properties of the materials.

Coronary Revascularization in Patients With Cancer.

Purpose of review: The treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) in cancer patients is an evolving landscape. Recent data emphasizes the importance of aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors and diseases in improving cardiovascular health in this unique group of patients regardless of cancer type or stage. Recent findings: Novel cancer therapeutics such as immune therapies and proteasome inhibitors have been associated with CAD. Recent stent technologies may safely allow for shorter duration (< 6 months) of dual antiplatelet therapy post-percutaneous coronary interventions. Intracoronary imaging may be useful in the decision making process in terms of stent positioning and healing. Summary: Large registry studies have partially filled a gap left by the lack of randomized controlled trials in the treatment of CAD in cancer patients. Cardio-oncology is gaining traction as a major sub-specialty in the cardiology field given the release of the first European Society of Cardiology - Cardio-oncology guidelines in 2022.

EMCAPT study: the effect of MitraClip treatment on the mitral annulus and left atrial appendage evaluation by transoesophageal echocardiography.

Introduction: Data on the change in mitral valve annulus diameter (MAD), and left atrial appendage (LAA) structure and function after transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) of the mitral valve in patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (MR) are lacking. Aim: To evaluate the change in these parameters just after the clip insertion and its relationship with prognosis in the long term. Material and methods: A total of 50 patients (age: 71.5 ±11.3 years, 70% male) with moderate-to-severe or severe MR were included in the study. Transthoracic (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were performed before and after the procedure. Prognostic data were recorded with post-procedure telephone calls and follow-up visits. Results: TEE performed during the procedure showed that LAA contraction and filling velocity significantly increased (p < 0.001 for all). Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP), MAD, and LAA landing zone dimension significantly decreased (p < 0.001 for all). There was only a significant correlation between the MAD before clip placement and the MAD change after clip placement (r = 0.6, p < 0.001). During a mean follow-up period of 10.5 ±8.9 months, no significant correlation was found between MAD change, LAA contraction and filling velocity change, and LAA landing zone dimension change and rehospitalization, stroke, mortality, and composite outcome. Conclusions: The contraction and filling velocity of LAA, SPAP, MAD, and LAA landing zone dimension changed significantly immediately after the MitraClip procedure. Although these parameters are not related to composite outcome in our study, MAD, LAA diameter, and velocity need to be compared between successful and unsuccessful procedures to predict their clinical relevance.

Current Evidence on Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation: Modifiable Risk Factors and the Effects of Risk Factor Intervention.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most encountered arrhythmias in clinical practice. It is also estimated that the absolute AF burden may increase by greater than 60% by 2050. It is inevitable that AF will become one of the largest epidemics in the world and may pose a major health problem for countries. Although AF rarely causes mortality in the acute period, it causes a significant increase in mortality and morbidity, including a fivefold increase in the risk of stroke, a twofold increase in dementia, and a twofold increase in myocardial infarction in the chronic period. Despite all the advances in the treatment of AF, it is better understood day by day that preventing AF may play a key role in reducing AF and its related complications. Modification of the main modifiable factors such as quitting smoking, abstaining from alcohol, changing eating habits, and exercise seems to be the first step in preventing AF. The strict adherence to the treatment process of secondary causes predisposing to AF such as DM, hypertension, obesity, and sleep apnea is another step in the prevention of AF. Both an individual approach and global public health campaigns can be highly beneficial to reduce the risk of AF. In this review, we aimed to summarize the current evidence on the relationship between modifiable risk factors and AF, and the impact of possible interventions on these factors in preventing or reducing the AF burden in the light of recently published guidelines and studies.

Long-Term Prognosis of Patients with Heart Failure: Follow-Up Results of Journey HF-TR Study Population.

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in therapeutic management of patients with heart failure, there is still an increasing morbidity and mortality all over the world. In this study, we aimed to present the 3-year follow-up outcomes of patients included in the Journey HF-TR study in 2016 that has evaluated the clinical characteristics and management of patients with acute heart failure admitted to the hospital and present a national registry data. METHODS: The study was designed retrospectively between November 2016 and December 2019. Patient data included in the previously published Journey HF-TR study were used. Among 1606 patients, 1484 patients were included due to dropout of 122 patients due to inhospital death and due to exclusion of 173 due to incomplete data. The study included 1311 patients. Age, gender, concomitant chronic conditions, precipitating factors, New York Heart Association, and left ventricular ejection fraction factors were adjusted in the Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: During the 3-year follow-up period, the ratio of hospitalization and mortality was 70.5% and 52.1%, respectively. Common causes of mortality were acute decompensation of heart failure and acute coronary syndrome. Angiotensin receptor blockers, betablockers, statin, and sacubitril/valsartan were found to reduce mortality. Hospitalization due to acute decompensated heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, lung diseases, oncological diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases was associated with the increased risk of mortality. Implantation of cardiac devices also reduced the mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Despite advances in therapeutic management of patients with heart failure, our study demonstrated that the long-term mortality still is high. Much more efforts are needed to improve the inhospital and long-term survival of patients with chronic heart failure.

Comparison of American and European Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease.

This review compares the recommendations of the recent 2020 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) and 2021 European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) guidelines on the management of patients with valvular heart disease (VHD). ACC/AHA and ESC/EACTS guidelines are both the updated versions of previous 2017 documents. Both guidelines fundamentally agree on the extended indications of percutaneous valve interventions, the optimal use of imaging modalities other than 2D echocardiography, the importance of a multidisciplinary Heart Team as well as active patient participation in clinical decision making, more widespread use of NOACs and earlier intervention with lower left ventricular dilatation thresholds to decrease long-term mortality. The differences between the guidelines are mainly related to the classification of the severity of valve pathologies and frequency of follow-up, level of recommendations of valve intervention indications in special patient groups such as frail patients and the left ventricular diameter and ejection fraction thresholds for intervention.

Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index and C-Reactive Protein/Albumin Ratio Could Predict Acute Stent Thrombosis and High SYNTAX Score in Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Acute stent thrombosis (AST) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) in predicting AST and high SYNTAX score in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The criteria of the Academic Research Consortium were used to determine definite stent thrombosis. A total of 2077 consecutive patients with ACS undergoing PCI were retrospectively enrolled. Platelet, white blood cell and neutrophil counts, as well as SII, CRP, CAR, and peak cardiac troponin I (cTnI) values were significantly higher, whereas the lymphocyte count and albumin values were significantly lower in the AST (+) group compared with the AST (-) group (P < .05). SYNTAX score showed significant positive correlations with SII (r = .429, P < .001) and CRP (r = .402, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that SII and CAR, as well as age, diabetes mellitus, stent length, and peak cTnI are independent predictors of AST and high SYNTAX score. In conclusion, the SII and CAR are simple, relatively cheap, and reliable inflammatory biomarkers that can predict AST and high SYNTAX scores in ACS.

Transcatheter mitral valve repair in a liver transplant candidate.

Untreated severe mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with poor outcomes due to the adverse consequences of long-standing volume overload on the left ventricle and left atrium, which leads to pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure. Early intervention results in favorable long-term outcomes making appropriate timing of intervention very critical. We present a 53-year-old male with severe symptomatic MR and right sided-heart failure which progressed to cardiac cirrhosis necessitating enrollment to the liver transplant list. Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) using MitraClip implantation resulted in impressive clinical improvement and resolution of cirrhosis. Eventually, the patient was taken off the transplant list. Treatment of severe MR may lead to improvements in congestive hepatopathy.

Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index as a Predictor of Asymptomatic Organ Damage in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Treatment-Naive Hypertension.

Background: Low-grade inflammation is known to facilitate the development of hypertensive organ damage. The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a new inflammatory index based on circulating immune-inflammatory cells. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between the SII and asymptomatic organ damage (AOD) in patients with newly diagnosed treatment-naive hypertension (HTN). Methods: A total of 500 participants (≥ 18 years) were enrolled in the study, including 250 patients and 250 healthy volunteers. Microalbuminuria of > 30 mg/day or proteinuria of > 150 mg/day, left ventricular mass index of > 95 g/m2 in women and > 115 g/m2 in men, and carotid intima-media thickness of > 0.9 mm or the presence of plaque in the carotid were evaluated as AOD indicators. AOD grade was classified as follows: Grade I - One organ involved, Grade II - Two organs involved, Grade III - Three organs involved, and Grade IV - Four organs involved. Results: SII values were higher among patients with HTN than in the control group. Positive correlations were found between the SII and AOD indicators and C-reactive protein levels. Increasing SII values were a common independent predictor of the presence and severity of AOD. The gradually increasing threshold values of the SII from no AOD to Grade III-IV exhibited high diagnostic performance. Conclusions: High SII values were independent predictors of the presence and severity of AOD in patients with newly diagnosed treatment-naive HTN. Considering the role of inflammation in HTN, the SII, which can be easily evaluated using blood parameters, can be an effective prognostic screening tool. (Rev Invest Clin. 2022;74(5):258-67).

Superficial Femoral Artery Endovascular Therapy: 12-Month Primary Patency Rates of Contemporary Endovascular Devices from 25,051 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 5.8 million people experience peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the United States today. Superficial femoral artery (SFA) disease is the most common cause of symptomatic PAD. New-generation nitinol stents, drug-coated stents, drug-coated balloons (DCB), covered stents, and directional or orbital atherectomy devices have shown promising results. However, clinical equipoise persists regarding the optimal selection of devices, largely attributable to the different inclusion criteria, study populations, length of lesions treated, definitions of "patency" and "restenosis," and follow-up methods in the up-to-date pivotal trials. METHODS: A prospective protocol was developed. We performed a literature search using PubMed from January 2011 to July 2021. All published articles including endovascular interventions in the SFA with reported 12-month "primary patency" rates as endpoints were included. RESULTS: We identified 25,051 patients in 124 studies reporting 12-month primary patency rates in patients with SFA disease. Primary patency rates were (weighted average) 82.6% for drug-eluting stents, 77.2% for drug-coated balloons, 75.2% for covered stents, 73.9% for nitinol self-expanding stents, 66.1% for atherectomy, and 44.5% for bare balloon angioplasty. CONCLUSION: The most frequently used endovascular devices yielded various 12-month primary patency rates ranging from 44.5% to 82.6%. The increased variation in inclusion criteria, lesion length, and complexity of lesions between studies does not allow direct comparison between the individual devices. Larger randomized trials in specific patient populations comparing these modalities are needed well before we can make proper recommendations on the superiority of one device over the other.

Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index as a Predictor of Asymptomatic Organ Damage in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Treatment-Naive Hypertension

ABSTRACT Background: Low-grade inflammation is known to facilitate the development of hypertensive organ damage. The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a new inflammatory index based on circulating immune-inflammatory cells. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between the SII and asymptomatic organ damage (AOD) in patients with newly diagnosed treatment-naive hypertension (HTN). Methods: A total of 500 participants (≥ 18 years) were enrolled in the study, including 250 patients and 250 healthy volunteers. Microalbuminuria of > 30 mg/day or proteinuria of > 150 mg/day, left ventricular mass index of > 95 g/m2 in women and > 115 g/m2 in men, and carotid intima-media thickness of > 0.9 mm or the presence of plaque in the carotid were evaluated as AOD indicators. AOD grade was classified as follows: Grade I - One organ involved, Grade II - Two organs involved, Grade III - Three organs involved, and Grade IV - Four organs involved. Results: SII values were higher among patients with HTN than in the control group. Positive correlations were found between the SII and AOD indicators and C-reactive protein levels. Increasing SII values were a common independent predictor of the presence and severity of AOD. The gradually increasing threshold values of the SII from no AOD to Grade III-IV exhibited high diagnostic performance. Conclusions: High SII values were independent predictors of the presence and severity of AOD in patients with newly diagnosed treatment-naive HTN. Considering the role of inflammation in HTN, the SII, which can be easily evaluated using blood parameters, can be an effective prognostic screening tool.

The impact of polymer additive for N95 masks on gamma-ray attenuation properties.

This article explores the effectiveness of gamma rays attenuation of various N95 respirator samples by analysing several theoretical parameters such as the Effective Atomic Numbers (Zeff), Half Value Layer (HVL), Mean Free Path (MFP), Mass Attenuation Coefficients (MAC), Tenth Value Layer (TVL), Exposure Build Up Factors (EBF) and Energy Absorption Build Up Factors (EABF). For the selected N95 mask samples, the MAC values corresponding to the energy levels between 0.015 and 20 MeV are measured using the WinXCOM software and the MATLAB code. The parameters including Zeff, TVL, HVL, and MFP are computed using the MAC values derived from the WinXCOM program. EBF and EABF are computed in relation to the penetration depth and incident photon energy by using the (G-P) fitting approximation in estimating the photon build-up factor. The findings showed that having the lowest TVL, HVL, and MFP, the N2 sample has the best output in terms of radiation attenuation purposes. In conclusion, the N2 sample which outperforms other samples is the most promising mask sample when it comes to gamma-ray attenuation features.