Yasutomi Higashikuni

Incidence and clinical impact of coronary stent fracture after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation

Background: Stent fracture is one of the possible causes of restenosis after sirolimus‐eluting stents (SES) implantation. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical impact of coronary stent fracture after SES implantation. Methods: From our prospective institutional database, 280 patients were treated solely with SES from August 2004 to June 2005. Among the 280 patients, 256 patients with a total of 307 lesions underwent follow‐up angiography on an average of 240 days after the procedure. Results: Stent fractures were observed in eight (2.6%) lesions. Of the eight lesions with stent fracture, five were located in the right coronary artery (RCA), two in the saphenous vein (SV) graft, and one in the left anterior descending coronary artery. The stent fractures were all in the locations that served as hinges during vessel movement in the cardiac contraction cycle. Seven of the eight stent fractures were adjacent to the edge of previously implanted or overlapped stent. Significant multivariate predictors of stent fracture were SV graft location (Odds ratio 35.88; 95% confidence interval 2.73–471.6, P = 0.006), implanted stent length (Odds ratio 1.04; 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.07, P = 0.02), and RCA location (Odds ratio 10.00; 95% confidence interval 1.11–89.67, P = 0.04). In‐stent binary restenosis rate was 37.5% and target lesion repeat revascularization rate was 50.0% in patients with stent fracture. Conclusions: Stent fracture was likely to be affected by mechanical stress provoked by rigid structures and hinge points. Stent fracture might be associated with the high incidence of target lesion revascularization.

Prevalence of Carotid Artery Stenosis in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in Japanese Population

Background and Purpose— Prevalence of carotid artery stenosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown in Japanese population. Methods— The study populations consisted of 632 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography because of suspicion of CAD. All patients underwent carotid ultrasonography to screen carotid artery stenosis before coronary angiography. We defined echographic carotid stenosis as area stenosis of >50% or peak systolic velocity of >200 cm/s. Results— Echographic carotid stenosis was observed in 124 patients (19.6%). Coronary angiography revealed 433 patients had CAD. Prevalence of echographic carotid artery stenosis was 14 of 199 (7.0%), 18 of 124 (14.5%), 28 of 131 (21.4%), and 64 of 178 (36.0%) in patients with 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-vessel CAD, respectively (P<0.0001). The prevalence rate with carotid stenosis and CAD was 25.4%. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that age and the extent of CAD were independently related to the presence of carotid stenosis (P=0.0002 and <0.0001, respectively). Conclusions— Prevalence of carotid stenosis in patients with CAD is high in Japan as well as in Western countries. Screening of carotid artery stenosis is recommended especially in older patients with multivessel CAD.

Impact of renal insufficiency on clinical and angiographic outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention with sirolimus-eluting stents

Background: Sirolimus‐eluting stents (SES) have been demonstrated to reduce restenosis. However, there have been few studies evaluating the impact of renal insufficiency on the angiographic as well as clinical outcomes after SES implantation. Methods: This study was composed of 304 consecutive patients having 361 lesions who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with SES. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to renal function (group 1 [n = 204]; creatinine clearance (Ccr) ≥≥60ml/min, group 2 [n = 69]; Ccr <60 ml/min, group 3 [n = 31]; hemodialysis). Clinical and angiographic follow‐up were evaluated at 8 months. Results: Clinical follow‐up was obtained in all patients and angiographic follow‐up was obtained in 283 patients (93.1%). Patients in group 3 showed a higher incidence of previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and there were more female gender, hypertensive, and less hyperlipidemia in this group. Late lumen loss at 8 months was significantly different among the 3 groups (group 1; 0.16 ± 0.46 mm, group 2; 0.44 ± 0.62 mm, group 3; 0.81 ± 0.88 mm, P < 0.0001). Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were documented in 22 patients (10.8%) in group 1, 13patients (18.8%) in group 2, and 12 patients (38.7%) in group 3, respectively (P = 0.0002). Conclusion: Neointimal growth following SES implantation is more pronounced in patients with renal insufficiency, especially those undergoing dialysis, compared with patients with normal renal function. Regardless of the beneficial effect of SES, the increased risk of MACE mainly due to high incidence of target vessel revascularization in the subgroup of patients with renal insufficiency should be taken into account.

Serum osteoprotegerin levels and long-term prognosis in subjects with stable coronary artery disease

Summary.  Background: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secretory glycoprotein which belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. OPG immunoreactivity was demonstrated in normal blood vessels and in early atherosclerotic lesions. In a previous study, we showed that high serum OPG levels are associated with progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). Objectives: The present study was designed to assess the association between serum OPG level and long‐term prognosis in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Methods: We performed a prospective, observational cohort study in 225 subjects to examine whether serum OPG levels can predict cardiovascular mortality. The median OPG levels were 1.02 ng mL−1 at baseline. Results: During the follow‐up (61 ± 25 months), 27 deaths occurred including 13 cardiovascular deaths. When the subjects were divided into three groups according to serum OPG level, the group with high serum OPG showed a higher risk for cardiovascular mortality. A Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model indicated that the higher risk of cardiovascular death in the high OPG level group remained significant (hazards ratio of 7.44, 95%CI 0.92–60.30, highest vs. lowest OPG tertile). In contrast, serum OPG levels were not associated with non‐cardiovascular mortality. Conclusions: Our data show that serum OPG levels are an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease.