Case report: a very large dissection in the left anterior descending coronary artery of a 56-year-old man.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare condition that usually occurs in relatively young patients who are predominantly female. Seldom it could be a cause of acute myocardial ischemia leading to a sudden cardiac death. SCAD consists of intramural hematoma formation or, rarely, intimal tears that initiate and propagate the dissection in the vessel wall. In rare cases, the SCAD occurs in male patients. We report the case of a 56-year-old man with acute myocardial infarction who was successfully treated via systemic thrombolysis in a peripheral hospital. Associated conditions were thrombosis of right femoral artery in the past and high platelet count (800,000/mm3). After 1 month, elective coronary angiography revealed a very diffuse spiral dissection of the left anterior descending artery; hence, our choice of medical treatment consisted of double oral antiplatelet therapy (clopidogrel 75 mg plus aspirin 325 mg once daily). After a 2-year follow-up, there was absence of both angina and myocardial ischemia and there was a decrease in platelet count. Many strategies could be considered in patients with SCAD, such as PCI, bypass surgery, or conservative medical management. In general, the long-term prognosis of patients with SCAD is considered favorable if they survive the acute phase.

Downstream administration of a high-dose tirofiban bolus in high-risk patients with unstable angina undergoing early percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: The best treatment option for high-risk patients with unstable coronary syndrome is an early invasive strategy accompanied by intensive anti-platelet therapy. We tested the effect on clinical outcome of early coronary angioplasty using a high-dose bolus of tirofiban in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: One hundred and forty consecutive patients with unstable coronary syndrome who underwent an immediate percutaneous coronary intervention with the administration of a high (25 microg/kg) dose bolus of tirofiban followed by an 18-h infusion of 0.15 microg kg(-1) min(-1) were compared with a matched control group of 162 patients treated with abciximab. The primary endpoint of the study was the 30-day incidence of major adverse cardiac events; the secondary endpoints were the incidence of major and minor bleeding. RESULTS: The time from admission to PCI was slightly shorter in the tirofiban group (3.9+/-4.8 vs. 4.5+/-4.4 h; P=0.26). The 30-day rate of major adverse cardiac events was similar in the two groups (6% with tirofiban and 8.6% with abciximab: OR=1.37, 95% CI=0.58-3.29, P=0.52). No major bleeding episodes were observed; the incidence of minor bleeding was 3.6% in the tirofiban group and 2.5% in the abciximab group (OR=0.68, 95% CI=0.18-2.59, P=0.74). CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary study, the beneficial effect of the administration of a high-dose tirofiban bolus on 30-day clinical outcomes was similar to that of abciximab in high-risk patients with unstable angina undergoing immediate percutaneous coronary intervention. The results of this therapeutic strategy should be tested in a larger randomised study.

Nonionic low-osmolar contrast media have no impact on major adverse cardiac events in patients undergoing coronary stenting with appropriate antiplatelet therapy.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of two nonionic low-osmolar monomers (iopamidol and iopromide) and one ionic low-osmolar dimeric contrast medium (ioxaglate) on 30-day major adverse cardiac events in patients undergoing coronary interventions involving the use of new-generation stents and appropriate antiplatelet agents. Thirteen hundred and eight patients treated with stent implantation were randomized to receive ioxaglate (438 patients), iopamidol (442 patients), or iopromide (428 patients). Most of them (55%) had an acute coronary syndrome. Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors were used in 37% of cases. All of the patients were on aspirin and ticlopidine for 1 month after the procedure. There was no significant between-group difference in the incidence of the primary composite endpoint of major adverse cardiac events 30 days after stenting (ioxaglate 3.6%; iopamidol 2.3%; iopromide 4.2%; P = 0.27). Adverse drug reactions were more frequent in the ioxaglate group (4.6% vs. 1.1% vs. 0.5%; P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that intracoronary thrombus (P = 0.002), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.01), and postprocedure minimum lumen diameter (P = 0.04) independently correlated with an adverse outcome after 1 month. In conclusion, no significant differences in 30-day major ischemic complications were observed in this unselected population of patients undergoing coronary stenting who received ioxaglate, iopamidol, or iopromide. These data seem to suggest that the use of nonionic low-osmolar contrast media does not adversely affect stent patency.

Patterns of in-stent restenosis after placement of NIR gold-coated stents in unselected patients.

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and angiographic patterns of in-stent restenosis 6 months after the implantation of NIR gold-coated stents in an unselected patient population. One hundred and sixteen consecutive patients were treated with the implantation of 149 NIR gold-coated stents. The majority of the patients (52%) had unstable angina or acute myocardial infarction. The baseline lesion morphology was complex in 78% of cases; the mean lesion length was 18 +/- 5 mm. The procedural success rate was 97%. Subacute stent thrombosis occurred in three patients (2.6%). During the 6-month follow-up, there were 2 deaths and 22 subjects (19.5%) underwent target vessel revascularization. The 6-month event-free survival was 60%. The angiographic restenosis rate was 32%. In 83% of the cases, the morphology of the restenosis was proliferative; in the remaining 17%, it presented as total occlusion. In conclusion, the restenosis rate after NIR gold-coated stent implantation in high-risk patients is similar to that reported using other stent designs. However, restenosis was always diffuse, involving the overall stent length and extending beyond the margins, thus indicating a greater proliferative neointimal response to this device.