Percutaneous closure of giant saphenous vein graft aneurysm.

Background: Aneurysmal dilatation of saphenous vein grafts used for coronary artery bypass grafting is a rare complication. These aneurysms are often large in calibre and pose a risk of rupture with significant haemorrhage. Case summary: We describe a case whereby a large saphenous vein graft aneurysm is closed percutaneously using a vascular plug to cease flow and promote thrombosis of the aneurysm whilst reconstructing the occluded native artery to negate ischaemia. Conclusion: Saphenous vein graft aneurysms following coronary artery bypass graft are rare and late complications. The preferred modality of closure is via percutaneous approach that requires meticulous planning to achieve a good outcome.

Novel economic treatment for coronary wire perforation: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery perforation is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), however if recognized and managed promptly, its adverse consequences can be minimized. Risk factors include the use of advanced PCI technique (such as atherectomy and chronic total occlusion interventions) and treatment of severely calcified lesions. Large vessel perforation is usually treated with implantation of a covered stent, whereas distal and collateral vessel perforations are usually treated with embolization of coils, fat, thrombin, or collagen. We describe a novel and cost-effective method of embolisation using a cut remnant of a used angioplasty balloon that was successful in sealing a distal wire perforation. we advocate this method as a simple method of managing distal vessel perforation. CASE SUMMARY: A 73-year-old male with previous coronary Bypass graft operation and recurrent angina on minimal exertion had undergone rotablation and PCI to his dominant left circumflex. At the end of the procedure there was evidence of wire perforation at the distal branch and despite prolonged balloon tamponade there continued to be extravasation and the decision was made to seal this perforation. A cut piece of an angioplasty balloon was used and delivered on the original angioplasty wire to before the perforation area and released which resulted in sealing of the perforation with no unwanted clinical consequences. CONCLUSION: The use of a balloon remnant for embolization in coronary perforation presents a simple, efficient and cost-effective method for managing coronary perforations and may be an alternative for achieving hemostasis and preventing poor outcome. Prevention remains the most important part with meticulous attention to the distal wire position, particularly with hydrophilic wires.

Excimer Laser Coronary Angioplasty: Clinical Applications and Procedural Outcome, in a Large-Volume Tertiary Centre.

Excimer-laser coronary angioplasty can be used to modify undilatable and uncrossable lesions in native arteries and in-stent restenosis which are increasingly encountered with the ageing population undergoing coronary intervention. We present our laser experience over a 10-year period in a large cardiac tertiary centre. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on all procedures where laser was used from August 2008 to December 2019. Clinical presentation, demographics, and procedural details were all recorded. Successful procedures were defined as <30% stenosis at the end. Periprocedural and in-hospital complications were recorded and verified. Results are presented as numbers and percentages. RESULTS: A total of 331 patients were identified with 473 lesions treated with laser and an overall total of 637 lesions. Of the 473 lesions treated, 46 (9.9%) were in-stent restenosis, 146 (30.9%) were chronic total occlusions, and the rest were uncrossable or undilatable lesions. The vast majority of procedures (97.0%) were performed with the 0.9-mm laser catheter. The overall success rate was 81.6% (58-87%) from low- to high-volume user. Complications included dissection 3 (0.6%), no-reflow 3 (0.6%), coronary perforation 13 (2.7%), and tamponade in 1 (0.2%). Only 3 (0.6%) of the perforations were seen after the laser catheter passage, the rest were seen later following balloon preparation or stent insertion. CONCLUSION: Laser is a valuable tool for treating complex and resistant coronary lesions. Its efficacy and safety are well established and when applied appropriately, it helps to achieve optimal outcomes for our patients.

Uncrossable and undilatable lesions-A practical approach to optimizing outcomes in PCI.

Uncrossable lesions are those that cannot be crossed with a balloon after successful guidewire crossing. These lesions are challenging and are commonly encountered in tortuous and calcified arteries as well as chronic total occlusions. They are the second most common barrier to successful PCI in CTO intervention after inability to cross the CTO segment with a guidewire. Procedures involving balloon uncrossable lesions during routine and CTO PCI utilise longer procedural times, radiation dose and contrast volumes with a lower likelihood of procedural success. In this article, we describe a pragmatic approach of managing balloon uncrossable lesions utilising the most contemporary equipment available in an algorithmic fashion beginning with simple, cost effective techniques right up to complex strategies for advanced operators. In addition, some of these lesions, even when crossed by any technique, they may remain difficult to dilate and prepare for stent insertion. We describe an approach of how to manage these undilatable lesions.

Drive-By Radial Artery Re-Entry: Extending Chronic Total Occlusion Techniques to the Peripheral Arteries.

Despite the success of the hybrid coronary chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention techniques, there has been little translation of these techniques into peripheral interventions. We describe a case of recanalization of an occluded radial artery that was dissected and re-entered using chronic total occlusion techniques before moving on to revascularize the coronary artery. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Flow, Reflected by Stroke Volume Index, Is a Risk Marker in High-Gradient Aortic Stenosis Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

BACKGROUND: Tools are needed to identify patients at increased risk after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Indexed stroke volume (SVi) is an echocardiographic measurement that is used for low-gradient aortic stenosis. We studied whether low SVi is a high-risk marker in patients with high-gradient aortic stenosis (HG-AS) and assessed the relationship between SVi and left ventricle (LV) systolic function in contributing to this risk. METHODS: A total of 816 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR were screened, and only patients with HG-AS were included. Low flow (LF) was defined as SVi ≤ 35 mL/m2. The primary endpoint was defined as a combination of all-cause mortality and readmission with heart failure at 1 year. RESULTS: Of the 476 patients with HG-AS, 215 (45%) had LF. They had higher N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) (2565 [1037-5492] vs 1730 [818-3575], P = 0.006) and smaller indexed valve area (0.30 ± 0.10 vs 0.37 ± 0.10 cm2/m2, P < 0.001) when compared with normal flow patients. The primary endpoint was higher in LF patients (hazard ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.21; P = 0.045). There were no statistical differences in the individual components of death (13.0% vs 8.9%, P = 0.16) or heart failure (14.9% vs 10.1%, P = 0.12). When stratified according to LV function, low SVi was associated with future adverse events in patients with reduced function (hazard ratio, 3.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-8.98; P = 0.015) with comparable clinical outcomes in those with preserved function. LF was an independent predictor of adverse events in the reduced LV function subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: SVi can further characterize patients with HG-AS and may help to identify those who are at increased risk after TAVR.

Use of rotablation to rescue a "fractured" micro catheter tip: A case report.

BACKGROUND: High-speed rotational atherectomy (HSRA) is most commonly used to modify calcified coronary artery lesions to facilitate stent deployment and expansion. The use of HSRA as an emergency rescue technique to release a fractured micro-catheter has not been described. We report the use of HSRA in a case of a fracture trapped corsair tip that was impeding coronary flow causing a ST elevation myocardial infarct. CASE SUMMARY: A 79 years old male was scheduled for elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to his left anterior descending artery (LAD). Given its calcific nature, a decision was made for upfront rotablation. During procedural preparations, the tip of an employed micro-catheter was separated from the shaft resulting in obstructing coronary flow and ST-segment elevation. The consensus was for an attempt bail out PCI strategy. A rotafloppy wire was advanced to the distal LAD using a corsair micro-catheter which was placed proximal to the occlusion site. Modification of the mid LAD segment was performed, resulting in mobilising the corsair tip, and deflecting it to a small diagonal branch. Following serial predilation, the procedure was completed using two overlapping drug eluting stents, jailing the corsair tip in the diagonal branch. The patient made uneventful recovery and was clinically stable at one year follow up. CONCLUSION: HSRA may be offered as a bailed-out strategy to rescue fractured and jailed micro-catheter tip in high risk surgical cases.

Advances in Clinical Cardiology 2018: A Summary of Key Clinical Trials.

INTRODUCTION: Many important clinical trials in cardiology were published or presented at major international meetings throughout 2018. This paper aims to offer a concise overview of these significant advances and to put them into clinical context. METHODS: Trials presented at the major international cardiology meetings during 2018 were reviewed including The American College of Cardiology, EuroPCR, The European Society of Cardiology, PCR London Valves, Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, and the American Heart Association. In addition to this a literature search identified several other publications eligible for inclusion based on their relevance to clinical cardiology, their potential impact on clinical practice and on future guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 78 trials met the inclusion criteria. New interventional and structural data include trials examining novel stent designs (Biofreedom™, COMBO), use of drug-coated balloons in patients with high bleeding risk, intervention in stable coronary artery disease, revascularisation strategy in ST elevation myocardial infarction, transcatheter aortic valve replacement in low-risk patients, and percutaneous mitral or tricuspid valve interventions. Preventative cardiology data included the use of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, canagliflozin), proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors (alirocumab) and approaches of hypertension management. Antiplatelet data included trials evaluating both the optimal length of course and combination of antiplatelet agents. Heart failure data included trials of sacubitril-valsartan during acute hospital admission and the management of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. Electrophysiology data included trials examining atrial fibrillation ablation, wearable cardiac defibrillators (LifeVest) and His-bundle pacing. CONCLUSION: This article presents key clinical trials completed during 2018 and should be valuable to both cardiology clinicians and researchers.

Advances in Clinical Cardiology 2017: A Summary of Key Clinical Trials.

INTRODUCTION: Numerous important cardiology clinical trials have been published or presented at major international meetings during 2017. This paper aims to summarize these trials and place them in clinical context. METHODS: The authors reviewed clinical trials presented at major cardiology conferences during 2017 including the American College of Cardiology, European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions, European Society of Cardiology, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, and the American Heart Association. Selection criteria were trials with a broad relevance to the cardiology community and those with potential to change current practice. RESULTS: A total of 75 key cardiology clinical trials were identified for inclusion. New interventional and structural cardiology data include left main bifurcation treatment strategy, multivessel disease management in cardiogenic shock, drug-eluting balloons for in-stent restenosis, instantaneous wave-free physiological assessment, new-generation stents (COMBO, Orsiro), transcatheter aortic valve implantation, and closure devices. New preventative cardiology data include trials of liraglutide, empagliflozin, PCSK9 inhibitors (evolocumab and bococizumab), inclisiran, and anacetrapib. Antiplatelet data include the role of uninterrupted aspirin therapy during non-cardiac surgery and dual antiplatelet therapy following coronary artery bypass grafting. New data are also included from fields of heart failure (levosimendan, spironolactone), atrial fibrillation (apixaban in DC cardioversion), cardiac devices (closed loop stimulation pacing for neuromediated syncope), and electrophysiology (catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation). CONCLUSION: This paper presents a summary of key clinical cardiology trials during the past year and should be of practical value to both clinicians and cardiology researchers.

Advances in Clinical Cardiology 2016: A Summary of the Key Clinical Trials.

INTRODUCTION: The findings of many new cardiology clinical trials over the last year have been published or presented at major international meetings. This paper aims to describe and place in context a summary of the key clinical trials in cardiology presented between January and December 2016. METHODS: The authors reviewed clinical trials presented at major cardiology conferences during 2016 including the American College of Cardiology (ACC), European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EuroPCR), European Society of Cardiology (ESC), European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), and the American Heart Association (AHA). Selection criteria were trials with a broad relevance to the cardiology community and those with potential to change current practice. RESULTS: A total of 57 key cardiology clinical trials were identified for inclusion. Here we describe and place in clinical context the key findings of new data relating to interventional and structural cardiology including delayed stenting following primary angioplasty, contrast-induced nephropathy, management of jailed wires, optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), stenting vs bypass for left main disease, new generation stents (BioFreedom, Orsiro, Absorb), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (Edwards Sapien XT, transcatheter embolic protection), and closure devices (Watchman, Amplatzer). New preventative cardiology data include trials of bariatric surgery, empagliflozin, liraglutide, semaglutide, PCSK9 inhibitors (evolocumab and alirocumab), and inclisiran. Antiplatelet therapy trials include platelet function monitoring and ticagrelor vs clopidogrel for peripheral vascular disease. New data are also presented in fields of heart failure (sacubitril/valsartan, aliskiren, spironolactone), atrial fibrillation (rivaroxaban in patients undergoing coronary intervention, edoxaban in DC cardioversion), cardiac devices (implantable cardioverter defibrillator in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy), and electrophysiology (cryoballoon vs radiofrequency ablation). CONCLUSION: This paper presents a summary of key clinical cardiology trials during the past year and should be of practical value to both clinicians and cardiology researchers.

Did the use of the Guideliner V2(TM) guide catheter extension increase complications? A review of the incidence of complications related to the use of the V2 catheter, the influence of right brachiocephalic arterial anatomy and the redesign of the V3(TM) Guideliner and clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the incidence of complications associated with V2 Guideliner, understand the mechanisms and evaluate the impact of alterations made to the V3 Guideliner. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of consecutive cases employing V2 Guideliner from two university teaching hospitals. Complications were identified, analysed and classified into major versus minor ones. To understand the potential anatomical mechanism of these complications, analysis of normal great vessel anatomy was undertaken in separate cohort of patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation via right radial approach. Further analysis of consecutive cases employing V3 Gudieliner took place and the incidence of complications were compared between V2 and V3 groups. RESULTS: Total of 188 cases of V2 Guideliner use were identified. One major complication was reported (coronary dissection). Proximal collar interaction and stent damage occurred in 19 cases (10%). Anatomical data suggest that extending the V2 Guideliner tubing sited the proximal collar of the device in the brachiocephalic/subclavian artery, a potential site of tortuosity and potential cause of the Guideliner proximal collar-stent interaction. Further analysis of 124 cases of V3 Guideliner use demonstrated no cases with proximal collar-stent interactions, one case of longitudinal stent deformation and two incidents of stent interaction with the distal edge of the V3 Guideliner. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated a higher incidence of V2 Guideliner complications compared to previous series. The change in design of the V2 Guideliner was a likely contributor but the modifications with V3 Guideliner appear to have ameliorated this issue.