Guideline adherence in the use of coronary angiography in patients presenting at the emergency department without myocardial infarction - Results from the German ENLIGHT-KHK project.

Background: For patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), direct coronary angiography (CA) is recommended, while for non-AMI patients, the diagnostic work-up depends on clinical criteria. This analysis provides initial prospective German data for the degree of guideline-adherence (GL) in the use of CA on non-AMI patients presenting at the emergency department (ED) with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) according to the 2015 ESC-ACS-GL. Furthermore the implications of the application of the 2020 ESC-ACS-GL recommendations were evaluated. Methods: Patient symptoms were identified using a standardized questionnaire; medical history and diagnostic work-up were acquired from health records. In accordance with the 2015 ESC-ACS-GL, CA was considered GL-adherent if intermediate risk criteria (IRC) were present or non-invasive, image-guided testing (NIGT) was pathological. Results: Between January 2019 and August 2021, 229 patients were recruited across seven centers. Patients presented with chest pain, dyspnea, and other symptoms in 66.7%, 16.2% and 17.1%, respectively, were in mean 66.3 ± 10.5 years old, and 36.3% were female. In accordance with the 2015 ESC-ACS-GL, the use of CA was GL-adherent for 64.0% of the patients. GL-adherent compared to non-adherent use of CA resulted in revascularization more often (44.5% vs. 17.1%, p < 0.001). Applying the 2020 ESC-ACS-GL, 20.4% of CA would remain GL-adherent. Conclusions: In the majority of cases, the use of CA was adherent to the 2015 ESC-ACS-GL. With regard to the 2020 and 2023 ESC-ACS-GL, efforts to expand the utilization of NIGT are crucial, especially as GL-adherent use of CA is more likely to result in revascularization.(German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00015638; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00015638; (registration date: 19 February 2019)).

Evaluation of the guideline-adherence of coronary angiography in patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome - Results from the German prospective multicentre ENLIGHT-KHK project.

Background: With 900'000 coronary angiographies (CA) per year, Germany has the highest annual per capita volume in Europe. Until now there are no prospective clinical data on the degree of guideline-adherence in the use of CA in patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) in Germany. Methods: Between January 2019 and August 2021, 458 patients with suspected CCS were recruited in nine German centres. Guideline-adherence was evaluated according to the current European Society of Cardiology and German guidelines. Pre-test probability (PTP) for CAD was determined using age, gender, and a standardized patient questionnaire to identify symptoms. Data on the diagnostic work-up were obtained from health records. Results: Patients were in mean 66.6 years old, male in 57.3 %, had known CAD in 48.4 % and presented with typical, atypical, non-anginal chest pain or dyspnoea in 35.7 %, 41.3 %, 23.0 % and 25.4 %, respectively. PTP according to the European guidelines was in mean 24.2 % (11.9 %-36.5 % 95 % CI). 20.9 % of the patients received guideline-recommended preceding non-invasive image guided testing. The use of CA was adherent to the European and German guideline recommendations in 20.4 % and 25.4 %, respectively. In multivariate-analysis, arterial hypertension and prior revascularization were predictors of guideline non-adherence. Conclusion: These are the first prospective clinical data which demonstrated an overall low degree of guideline-adherence in the use of CA in patients with suspected CCS in the German health care setting. To improve adherence rates, the availability of and access to non-invasive image guided testing needs to be strengthened. (German Clinical Trials Registry DRKS00015638 - Registration Date: 19.02.2019).

Redo Operation of Recurrent Giant Coronary Artery Aneurysm: Optimizing Surgical Strategy.

Background Giant coronary artery aneurysms (GCAA) are extremely rare, but they can cause life-threatening complications. Indications for surgical intervention are the occurrence of complications such as fistulas, compression, embolization, or rapid enlargement. The optimal therapeutic approach is still under debate. Until now, there are no publications dealing with the follow-up after surgical treatment. Moreover, the surgical strategy in redo operations has not been described yet. Case Description We report on surgery in a 50-year-old man with a recurrent GCAA after previous dissection and reduction. Conclusion Our recommendation is complete resection and bypassing instead of a mere diameter reduction to avoid further progression of the disease.

Evaluation of the 4-French Pulsar-18 Self-expanding Nitinol Stent in Long Femoropopliteal Lesions.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the patency and the freedom of target lesion revascularization of the 4-French Pulsar-18 self-expandable (SE) nitinol stent for the treatment of long femoropopliteal occlusive disease in a two-center, prospective, all-comers registry with a follow-up period of 12 months. METHODS: This registry enrolled 36 patients with symptomatic femoropopliteal long lesions for recanalization and implantation of the 4-French Pulsar-18 SE nitinol stent. Routine follow-up examination including duplex ultrasound was performed after 6 and 12 months. Primary patency was defined as no binary restenosis on duplex ultrasound (Peak systolic velocitiy ration (PSVR) <2.5) and no target lesion revascularization was performed within 12 months' follow-up. No drug-eluting devices were allowed in this registry. RESULTS: Average lesion length of the femoropopliteal segment was 182.3 ± 51.8 mm. Mean stent implantation length was 181.5 ± 35.4 mm. Total occlusion was present in 46 of the 48 (95.8%) treated lesions. Involvement of popliteal segment I-III was present in 3 (6.3%) lesions. The primary patency after 6 and 12 months was 87.5% and 85.4%, respectively. The clinically driven overall freedom from target lesion revascularization (fTLR) was 89.6% after 6 months and 87.5% after 12 months. ABI, pain-free walking distance and Rutherford category, all improved significantly (P < 0.001) after 6 and 12 months. The primary patency rate in patients with diabetes (P = 0.18) and renal insufficiency (P = 0.3) was not significantly lower as compared to the overall primary patency. CONCLUSIONS: In this two-center, all-comers registry, the use of the Pulsar-18 SE nitinol stent for endovascular intervention of femoropopliteal disease with a mean lesion length of 182.3 ± 51.8 mm showed promising primary patency and fTLR rates after 6 and 12 months. Diabetes and renal insufficiency had no negative impact on the patency rate.

Endovascular treatment of acute limb ischemia and proximal deep vein thrombosis using rotational thrombectomy: A review of published literature.

Acute and subacute ischemia of the lower extremity is still a common reason for amputation. The treatment of this condition includes the well known procedure of local thrombolysis, surgical thrombectomy and, in recent times, percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy procedures such as rotational thrombectomy. However, in randomized studies Fogarty's procedure of surgical thrombectomy was associated with a high rate of perioperative complications and, in part, low technical success rates. On the other hand, local thrombolysis is associated with hemorrhage as well as high costs because of measures requiring substantial resources, such as intensive care monitoring or repeat angiographies. In several studies, the endovascular therapy options of Straub Rotarex® and Aspirex® systems, both products of technical advancements in the field, were shown to be successful in terms of amputation-free survival. Their use was also associated with low complication rates. The majority of studies were focused on arterial blood flow in the femur. However, in the meantime several registers and studies have shown that the systems can also be effectively used to treat proximal deep vein thrombosis. In the present report we review the current study-based value of rotational thrombectomy in the venous and arterial system.

Twelve months outcome after percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy for treatment of acute femoropopliteal bypass occlusion.

Acute and subacute ischemia of the legs in acute and subacute femoropopliteal bypass occlusion is a dramatic situation that endangers the survival of the limbs, depending on the severity of the ischemia. Different therapy options like percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy procedures, which include rotational thrombectomy, have become available in recent years in addition to local lysis and surgical thrombectomy. Rotational thrombectomy with the Straub Rotarex(®) System as an endovascular therapy option has demonstrated promising results leading to amputation-free survival in multiple studies. We recently provided data of 22 patients with acute femoropopliteal bypass occlusion where we examined the feasibility of the Rotarex(®) System in this indication. A technical success rate of 82% was demonstrated. During a follow-up period of 6 months, no reinterventions in these patients had to be performed. We now provide patency rates in 21 patients of our study group after a follow-up period of 12 months. The average ABI after 12 months was 0.80 ± 0.1. One patient showed a hemodynamic restenosis in a Nitinolstent distal to the femoropopliteal bypass which was implanted in the index procedure. No reocclusion of the femoropopliteal bypasses occurred in all patients.

[Dissection of the right coronary artery as a complication after the IVUS procedure]. / Dissektion der rechten Koronararterie als Komplikation einer IVUS-Untersuchung.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is the "state-of-the-art" technique for imaging and analyzing coronary plaque extent and composition. Despite small-sized IVUS catheters complications are possible during the procedure such as acute coronary dissection, perforation, and vessel thrombosis. The authors report the case of an acute dissection of the right coronary artery during analysis of an ambiguous plaque lesion. At the same time, IVUS is also helpful to reposition the guide wire from the false to the true lumen and to seal the dissection membrane by stent placement.

Successful nitinol stent implantation in a large coronary aneurysm: post-interventional patency assessment by magnetic resonance imaging.

Nitinol stents are thought to exhibit reduced occurrence of artifacts and may be suitable for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of stent localization and in-stent patency even in coronary-sized stent grafts. A 54-year-old male patient presented with a large coronary post-stenotic aneurysm of the right coronary artery (RCA) beside significant stenoses of the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) and the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) with aneurysm formation. After implantation of stent grafts to the LAD and LCX, two polymermembrane-covered nitinol stent grafts were placed into the RCA. A control MR examination 7 days following the RCA intervention showed successful occlusion of the former aneurysm, no post-interventional endoleak, and bright signal within the stent indicating stent patency. Thus, coronary MRI after nitinol stent implantation in coronary aneurysms is feasible for post-interventional early imaging control at least as far as the exclusion of possible endoleaks is concerned.