To contribute to an improvement of efficiency within the health care system, it is important for each medical professional involved in a specific value chain of cure to have some basic understanding of the related and updated treatment methods. In a relatively short time, the field of interventional cardiology has ...

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that in animal models direct stenting (DS) reduces the vessel injury, in clinical practice this treatment strategy did not reduce late restenosis as compared to conventional strategy with balloon predilatation (PD). However, the influence of DS was not evaluated when stent expansion is optimized by intravascular ...

Percutaneous coronary interventions using stents were investigated in patients with multivessel disease. Acute and long-term results were compared with those of the German Angioplasty Bypass Surgery Investigation trial in a prospective multicenter study. The study included 134 patients in whom 277 lesions were treated. Angiographic success and procedural success were ...

Over 100 preclinical studies in several small and large animal species were performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb; Baxter Healthcare Corp.) as an oxygen therapeutic. During the preclinical evaluation of DCLHb, myocardial lesions were observed following the administration of DCLHb to certain species. These ...

Both heavily calcified and ostial lesions are difficult to deal with by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) alone. Acute results are often sub-optimal, complications are more frequent, and long-term results are disappointing. Optimal stent deployment may not be possible unless satisfactory lesion dilatation is achieved and the lesion made more ...

The use of directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) in current practice has been limited. The SilverHawk System is a newly developed plaque excision device that aims to overcome the drawbacks of prior DCA platforms. The device was evaluated in a porcine coronary model and in a series of patients. Procedural variables ...

AIMS: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a rate-limiting enzyme in heme degradation, leading to the generation of free iron, biliverdin, and carbon monoxide (CO). CO exerts potent antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory effects in the vascular walls, thereby influencing neointimal formation after vascular injury. A dinucleotide GT repeat in the promotor region of ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and the cause of "edge restenosis" after implantation of high activity 41.1 microCi +/- 1.2 microCi = 1520 kBq +/- 44 kBq, beta-emitting (55Co) stents. Proton bombarding in cyclotron has brought the radioactivity. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) investigation has been completed ...

Loss to follow-up is problematic in most cohort studies and often leads to bias. Although guidelines suggest acceptable follow-up rates, the authors are unaware of studies that test the validity of these recommendations. The objective of this study was to determine whether the recommended follow-up thresholds of 60-80% are associated ...

Intracoronary brachytherapy has emerged as one of the novel exciting developments in the field of interventional cardiology to counteract the problem of restenosis. Restenosis is the major limitation to a full expansion of all revascularization procedures. Elastic recoil, unfavorable remodeling and a proliferative response to injury are the more importune ...

Dissection of the coronary sinus during lead implantation for biventricular pacemaker implantation in patients with advanced heart failure is a serious complication that has occasionally been reported. We report on the clinical outcome and angiographic follow-up in a series of 7 patients with acute major dissection from 103 consecutive attempts ...

BACKGROUND: Distal embolization during coronary angioplasty may result in vessel occlusion, no reflow and myonecrosis. This study tested the authors' clinical experiences using a guidewire system designed to preserve distal flow during angioplasty. METHODS AND RESULTS: The FilterWire EX trade mark (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA) consists of a 0.014-inch ...

The aim of this study was to determine whether a stented coronary artery might be positively remodeled, which factors predict this phenomenon, and whether positive remodeling has an association with late outcome. The study population consisted of 230 lesions in 230 patients who received bare-metal stents. We performed intravascular ultrasound ...

Percutaneous rotational coronary atherectomy (PRCA) is commonly used in the percutaneous treatment of diffuse, calcified coronary lesions in stable coronary syndromes (SCSs) and facilitates successful delivery and deployment of balloons and stents. Early experience with PRCA cautioned its use in acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). However, the evolution of the PRCA ...

Since the advent of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for stenosing coronary disease, restenosis has remained a clinical problem. Despite the emergence and evolution of coronary stents, the rate of restenosis following PCI is still 10-20%, and above 50% in high risk subgroups. With increased understanding of the pathophysiology of this ...

At present, vascular brachytherapy is the only efficient therapy for in-stent restenosis. Nevertheless, edge restenosis often related to geographical miss has been identified as a major limitation of the technique. The non-slippery cutting balloon has the potential to limit vascular barotraumas, which, together with low-dose irradiation at both ends of ...

The current study used serial (postintervention and follow-up) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to assess the impact of acute results on long-term follow-up of patients with in-stent restenosis (ISR). All patients (n = 180) with serial IVUS studies of ISR lesions from the following gamma-irradiation brachytherapy trials were included: Washington Radiation for ...

To assess the validity of locally performed off-line quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) measurement in clinical trials, we carried out a comparative study between on-site QCA analysis and analysis performed at an independent external core laboratory. One local operator analyzed the pre, post and follow-up angiograms of 116 patients participating in ...

BACKGROUND: Controversy exists regarding the contribution made by elevated serum homocysteine evels in raising the risk of restenosis after percutaneous coronary interventions. The objective of this study was to determine whether elevated homocysteine evels increase the risk of restenosis. METHODS: Two hundred and two consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention ...

AIM: To review the effect of moderate hyperhomocysteinemia on restenosis after coronary angioplasty. DATA SUMMARY: Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with arterial neointimal proliferation in subjects with homocystinuria, atherosclerosis and coronary graft disease. In the rat model, it exacerbates neointimal proliferation after carotid injury. In humans, restenosis after coronary angioplasty is inconsistently ...

In-stent restenosis lesions were divided into 2 groups according to the use of cutting balloon (n = 76) or conventional balloon angioplasty (n = 407) before gamma-brachytherapy. Cutting balloon angioplasty, compared with conventional balloon angioplasty, in patients undergoing gamma-brachytherapy for in-stent restenosis is associated with less requirement for new stents ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In this article, the authors intend to provide an update on clinical trials of pharmacologic prevention of restenosis after percutaneous coronary interventions, placed in the perspective of the use of orally administered therapy for the prevention of atherosclerosis progression and clinical events. RECENT FINDINGS: AGI-1067, the mono-succinic ...

Inflammation is the primary response to vessel wall injury caused by stent placement in coronary arteries. The cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, lymphotoxin (LT)-alpha, and interleukin (IL)-10 are critically involved in inflammatory reactions. The intensity of the inflammatory process and the angiographic or clinical outcome after stenting are influenced by ...

Despite similar early clinical events, patients who undergo treatment of small vessels are at an increased risk for target lesion revascularization (TLR) after coronary artery stenting. We sought to determine predictors of TLR after stent implantation in small coronary arteries. We identified 423 consecutive patients who underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided ...

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the influence of elevated homocysteine plasma levels and 2 polymorphisms, 677C/T and 1298A/C, of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene on the risk of restenosis after stenting in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Homocysteine levels and MTHFR genotypes were determined in 800 consecutive patients ...

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may cause distal embolization, with deterioration of distal flow and further extension of the infarct. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pretreatment by thrombectomy on myocardial salvage after stent implantation in patients with ...

BACKGROUND: Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) has been proposed as a candidate risk factor for restenosis after coronary artery stenting. Transcription, level, and activity of PAI-1 are influenced by the 4G/5G polymorphism in the promoter region of PAI-1 gene. The polymorphism may therefore affect wound-healing processes in injured blood vessels and ...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to review the current literature pertaining to intracoronary brachytherapy for the prevention of restenosis after percutaneous coronary revascularization (PCR). METHODS: English-language articles were identified through a MEDLINE search (January 1984 to January 2003) using the keywords brachytherapy, radioactive stents, and coronary arteries. In ...

BACKGROUND: Previous work has shown that ethanol dampens cell growth signals and inhibits smooth muscle proliferation in a restenosis model. Catheter-based approaches to intrapericardial (IPC) delivery of therapeutic agents have been recently demonstrated to be feasible. This study tested the effect of IPC instillation of ethanol on the injury response ...

OBJECTIVE: Stenting of small coronary arteries has always been limited by high rates of restenosis, and restenosis has mainly been attributed to inflammatory reactions resulting in cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia. Based on our experience for several years, we retrospectively investigated the effect of hydrocortisone on reducing in-stent restenosis. PATIENTS ...

In the twenty-six years since Gruntzig introduced a simple balloon angioplasty technique, percutaneous coronary intervention has undergone extraordinary growth and has now surpassed bypass surgery in frequency of performance. Several critical breakthrough technologies account for this remarkable progress: intracoronary stents have increased success rates and reduced restenosis, adjunctive antiplatelet therapy ...

Impaired coronary artery blood flow and left anterior descending (LAD) artery culprit location are angiographic variables that have been associated with poorer outcomes after fibrinolytic administration in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We hypothesized that culprit lesion location in the proximal portion of the culprit artery would also be ...

We compared a conventional stent (Jostent Flex, Jomed GmbH, Rangendingen, Germany) with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-membrane-covered stent (Jostent Stentgraft) in patients undergoing intervention of a stenosis in an obstructed vein graft. The use of stents improved results of percutaneous revascularization of obstructed vein grafts, but did not demonstrate the reduced elevated ...

Stent implantation in unprotected left main coronary artery (LMCA) bifurcation lesions may improve procedural and late clinical outcomes. However, concerns regarding stent-related complications, such as stent jail, subacute thrombosis, and in-stent restenosis remain. Optimal debulking by directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance may be effective in this ...

OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to test the efficacy of paclitaxel added to the contrast agent iopromide in the prevention of restenosis. BACKGROUND: Contrast media adhere to the coronary vessel wall for some seconds after injection. Such a layer of contrast agent could serve as a matrix for antiproliferative ...

BACKGROUND: Sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) have recently been proven to reduce restenosis and reintervention compared with bare stents. Safety and effectiveness of SES in acute myocardial infarction remain unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Since April 16, 2002, a policy of routine SES implantation has been instituted in our hospital, with no clinical ...

Since its introduction in the early 1970s, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery has been proven to relief anginal symptoms in patients with severe myocardial ischemia. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was introduced in clinical practice at the end of the 1970s and this treatment has also been established to be ...

Angina pectoris is a clinical syndrome of symptoms caused by myocardial ischaemia due to oxygen demand exceeding supply. The most common cause is coronary artery stenosis due to progressive atherosclerotic disease. Angina has a prevalence of approximately 5% and increases with age. Despite improvements in treatment there remains a yearly ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the new Fox Hollow atherectomy device (FHT) designed for more efficient and easier plaque removal. The FHT has short rigid section and low-profile cutter mounted on a monorail catheter. The FHT catheter was utilized in 77 patients ...

Restenosis of a segment of diseased coronary artery following metallic stenting is a common clinical problem and a major limitation of the procedure. Systemic pharmacologic interventions to deal with this problem have met with little success. Several small studies suggest that cilostazol, a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor whose pharmacologic properties include ...

We sought to assess whether pre-procedural angiographic characteristics are associated with adverse clinical outcomes after coronary stenting with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition. Ischemic complications after balloon angioplasty are associated with pre- and post-procedural angiographic variables. However, in the current era of stenting with IIb/IIIa inhibition, it is unknown whether angiographic features ...

BACKGROUND: Experimental data suggest that tissue factor (TF) may induce neointimal hyperplasia after arterial injury. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that elevated levels of TF in the circulation contribute to the development of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or stent implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Whole-blood TF ...

The study reports the results of directional atherectomy with an 8Fr guiding catheter-compatible atherectomy catheter in a series of 31 in-stent restenotic lesions. This preliminary experience indicates a favorable safety profile, with events limited to non-Q-wave myocardial infarction occurring in 3.6% of patients. The secondary end point regarding the incidence ...

Restenosis remains a vexing problem in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). This phenomenon is related to a combination of events, including elastic recoil, negative remodeling and fibrointimal tissue proliferation. While stenting (bare metal and drug eluting) has made a dramatic impact in preventing recoil and remodeling, restenosis still occurs. ...

We report a case of obstructive in-stent restenosis in a diffusely diseased saphenous vein graft complicated by a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. With tirofiban infusion, the extensively occluded saphenous bypass was reperfused, establishing a TIMI flow 3, and then entirely irradiated with a beta source (32P) without any complication. At 7 ...

The objective of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of plasma interleukin-8 (IL-8) for adverse cardiac events and restenosis in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The pre- and post-procedural peak plasma levels of IL-8 and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were examined by immunoassay, while adverse cardiae ...

Predictors of restenosis after stent angioplasty of ostial renal artery stenosis (RAS) and long-term technical success, particularly the influence of gold coating, are unknown. During a 4-year period (1996-2000), we treated 156 consecutive patients with 219 ostial RAS of > or = 70% diameter stenosis. Gold-coated stents were used in ...

We studied the safety and feasibility of intracoronary sonotherapy (IST) and its effect on the coronary vessel at 6 months. Thirty-seven patients with stable or unstable angina were included (40 lesions). The indication was de novo lesion (n = 26), restenosis (n = 2), in-stent restenosis (n = 11), and ...

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary interventions on saphenous vein grafts (SVG) and in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) have been associated with the distal embolization of the thrombus and plaque and to the no-reflow phenomenon. We report on the safety and feasibility of a new distal emboli protection filter. METHODS: Angioplasty ...

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of saphenous vein graft (SVG) is associated with frequent postprocedural enzyme elevation and late cardiac events. New strategies are proposed to minimize distal embolization and to improve the outcome of patients treated with stenting for SVG lesions. The objectives of the current study were to ...