Alessandro Petrolini

The Effect of Thrombectomy on Myocardial Blush in Primary Angioplasty: The Randomized Evaluation of Thrombus Aspiration by Two Thrombectomy Devices in Acute Myocardial Infarction (RETAMI) Trial

Background: In patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may cause thrombus dislodgment leading to microvascular function impairment, which is a negative independent predictor of myocardial function recovery. Compared with conventional stenting, pretreatment with aspiration thrombectomy during primary PCI significantly improves coronary epicardial flow and myocardial tissue perfusion parameters. We sought to evaluate the angiographic findings of two different manual aspiration thrombectomy devices (Diver‐Invatec® (DI) and Export‐Medtronic®® (EM)) in STEMI patients undergoing primary angioplasty. Methods: We randomized 103 STEMI patients referred to our hospital to undergo primary PCI (<12 hr from symptoms onset) to DI (n = 52) and EM (n = 51) devices. The primary angiographic composite end‐points were the rates of post‐thrombectomy thrombus score (TS) ≤≤2, TIMI flow grade ≥≥2, and post‐stenting myocardial blush grade (MBG) ≥≥2 in the two groups. Results: Baseline, clinical, and angiographic preprocedural findings did not differ between the two groups. After aspiration thrombectomy, a TS ≤≤ 2 was more frequently present in EM group (92.3 vs. 69.3%, P = 0.0052). Also the rate of post‐thrombectomy TIMI ≥≥ 2 (69.3 vs. 92.2%, P = 0.0052) and post‐stenting MBG ≥≥2 (88.2 vs. 69.3%, P = 0.029) were significantly higher in EM group. No significative differences were observed in terms of clinical events at 1 and 12 months. Conclusions: In this single‐center, prospective, randomized study, a EM use before stenting in STEMI patients seems to remove more thrombotic burden compared with DI, providing a greater post‐thrombectomy epicardial flow and a better post‐stenting microvascular perfusion.

Randomized Comparison of XiEnce-V and Multi-link VisioN Coronary Stents in the sAme muLtivessel Patient with Chronic kiDnEy diSease (RENAL-DES) Study

Background— Percutaneous coronary interventions in patients with chronic kidney disease have shown suboptimal results. Drug-eluting stents (DES) might reduce the rate of target vessel revascularization in comparison with bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients with chronic kidney disease. However, given the multiple concomitant individual variables present in such patients, the comparison of neointimal growth after percutaneous coronary intervention is complex and difficult to assess. Methods and Results— Randomized Comparison of Xience V and Multi-Link Vision Coronary Stents in the Same Multivessel Patient with Chronic Kidney Disease (RENAL-DES) was a prospective, randomized, multicenter study to directly compare the efficacy in the prevention of clinical restenosis of everolimus-eluting stent (Xience V) and BMS with an identical design (Multi-Link Vision), both implanted in the same patient with multivessel coronary artery disease and chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min). The primary end point of the study was the ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization as detected with myocardial scintigraphy at 12 months. In 215 patients, 512 coronary vessels were successfully treated with the randomly assigned DES (n=257) or BMS (n=255). At 1 year, the rate of ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization for DES and BMS groups was 2.7% (95% confidence interval, 1.1%–5.6%) and 11.4% (95% confidence interval, 7.8% to 16%), respectively, P<0.001. For the multivariate analysis, independent predictors of the ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization were BMS implantation (odds ratio, 4.95; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–11.6; P<0.001) and vessel size (odds ratio, 0.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.1–0.7; P=0.006). Conclusions— This is the first randomized trial showing a reduction of clinical restenosis with a new-generation DES in comparison with a BMS of equal design, in patients who have chronic kidney disease with multivessel coronary artery disease. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00818792.

Optical coherence tomography for characterization of cardiac allograft vasculopathy in late survivors of pediatric heart transplantation

BACKGROUND Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to reliably detect cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV). In recent studies performed in adult heart transplant (HTx) recipients, OCT revealed the presence of vulnerable plaques and complicated coronary artery lesions, thus challenging the current concept that CAV disease is a diffuse concentric and fibrosing vasculopathy. The aim of our study was to characterize CAV by OCT in a young population of HTx recipients. METHODS We prospectively enrolled 21 young HTx recipients (mean age 27 years, range 22 to 38 years) to undergo OCT of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in addition to annual CAV screening by coronary angiography and virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS). Quantitative OCT analysis was performed at the site of maximal intimal thickness (MIT) for each LAD segment. RESULTS Patients were 27 years old with a mean time from cardiac transplantation of 14.7 ± 6.8 years. All patients exhibited intimal hyperplasia with an abnormal (>1) intima-to-media ratio. The median (interquartile range) MIT values by OCT were 0.37 (0.22 to 0.54) mm, 0.46 (0.29 to 0.54) mm and 0.34 (0.25 to 0.49) mm in the distal, middle and proximal LAD segments, respectively. Qualitative OCT analysis rarely showed features of vulnerable plaque or complicated lesions. Consistently, at VH-IVUS, the prevalent component at the site of MIT per vessel assessed by OCT was fibrous tissue. CONCLUSIONS Unlike recent evidence in adult HTx recipients, OCT findings of vulnerable plaque and complicated coronary lesions were found to be rare among late survivors of pediatric HTx.

Coronary plaque composition assessed by intravascular ultrasound virtual histology: association with long-term clinical outcomes after heart transplantation in young adult recipients.

To assess coronary plaque composition by virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH‐IVUS) analysis in young adult recipients and to correlate these findings with time from heart transplant (HTx) and long‐term outcomes.

Impact of abciximab on coronary restenosis in diabetic patients undergoing elective paclitaxel-eluting stent implantation. A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study

AIMS: Recent studies suggested that abciximab reduces the risk of restenosis in diabetic patients receiving coronary bare metal stent. We sought to evaluate whether abciximab may reduce in-segment late luminal loss (LLL), in patients with diabetes mellitus undergoing elective drug-eluting stents (PES) implantation. METHODS and RESULTS: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind study on diabetic patients after a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) implantation on de novo coronary artery lesions. 132 consecutive patients with diabetes (mean age 63.1±7.4 years, 82 males) were randomized to abciximab (n=66) or placebo (n=66). Among the 124 (93.9%) patients who underwent a 6-months angiographic follow-up, the mean difference in in-segment LLL between patients who received abciximab and placebo was 0.02 mm (P=0.8). In addition, the rates of angiographic in-segment restenosis were comparable between the two groups (14.3 versus 9.8%, P=0.5). Cumulative rates of clinical events did not differ (death: 1.5 versus 1.5, P=0.9 and MI: 1.5 versus 3%, P=0.8) between abciximab and placebo group, respectively. Similarly, the incidence of target lesion revascularization was 9.1% and 6.1% (P=0.7) at six months, in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Abciximab does not seem to have any impact on the extent of in-segment LLL in diabetic patients undergoing an elective PES implantation.

Long-term outcome of provisional side-branch T-stenting for the treatment of unprotected distal left main coronary artery disease.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on distal left main (LM) remains an independent predictor of poor outcome. The strategy of implanting one stent on the main branch (MB), with provisional stenting on the side‐branch (SB) only when required (provisional T‐stenting), has become the default approach to most bifurcation lesions. This prospective registry sought to investigate the long‐term safety and efficacy of provisional SB T‐stenting for the treatment of unprotected distal LM disease in patients undergoing PCI. From January 2006 to May 2009, 107 consecutive patients affected by unprotected distal LM disease underwent PCI at our center with the intent to use a provisional SB‐stenting technique. We evaluated the rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at long‐term follow‐up (up to 12–41 months). Procedural success was obtained in 98% of patients. A final kissing balloon inflation was performed in 95% and intravascular ultrasound in 83% of patients. Additional stenting on the SB after provisional stenting on MB was required in 29% of lesions. Long‐term follow‐up (3.5 years; 25–75th percentile and 1.1–4.5 years) was completed in 97% of patients. The cumulative incidence of MACE was 32.7%: all‐cause death was 15.8%, nonfatal myocardial infarction 8.4%, and target vessel revascularization 21.5%. At multivariable analysis, age (hazard ratio, 2.08; 95% confidence interval: 2.01–3.32, P = 0.03), European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (HR 1.20, 95% CI: 1.04–1.33, P = 0.02), and diabetes mellitus (HR 3.48, 95% CI: 1.12–6.87, P = 0.01) were identified as independent predictors of MACE. In patients with unprotected distal LM disease undergoing PCI, a provisional strategy of stenting the MB only is associated with good long‐term clinical outcomes.

One-Year Outcome From an All-Comers Population of Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Treated With Biolimus-Eluting Stent With Biodegradable Polymer

To evaluate the performance of biolimus‐eluting stent (BES) in patients with ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a real world clinical scenario.