Background A sinus of Valsalva aneurysm involving a single cusp is a rare condition, and coronary computed tomography angiography with fractional flow reserve-computed tomography helps evaluate not only the anatomical aspects of the aneurysm and coronary artery but also the physiological details of coronary artery disease.Case summary A 71-year-old woman presented with exertional chest pain and dyspnoea. Enhanced computed tomography revealed an aneurysmal change in the right sinus of Valsalva, and coronary computed tomography angiography revealed diffuse narrowing of the proximal segment of right coronary artery due to mechanical stretching by the large Valsalva aneurysm. Fractional flow reserve-computed tomography revealed a significantly low fractional flow reserve (0.50 in the distal right coronary artery). A modified Bentall procedure was performed with a 21 mm bioprosthetic valve and a 24 mm Valsalva graft conduit for the aortic root aneurysm; mitral valve annuloplasty was performed for mitral valve regurgitation. Post-operative coronary computed tomography angiography revealed no significant stenosis in the proximal segment of the right coronary artery. Furthermore, fractional flow reserve-computed tomography revealed a normalized fractional flow reserve in the distal right coronary artery. The patient experienced relief from chest pain and was discharged 19 days after the surgery.Discussion A right coronary sinus of Valsalva aneurysm, which caused right coronary artery ischaemia, was successfully treated using a modified Bentall procedure. Coronary computed tomography angiography and fractional flow reserve-computed tomography revealed anatomical and functional improvements in the right coronary artery ischaemia post-operatively.

BACKGROUND: Although drug-coated balloon (DCB)-based stent-less percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for de-novo lesions has attracted more attention, outcomes of the DCB procedure for hemodialysis (HD) patients are reported to be inferior to those for non-HD patients, similarly to drug-eluting stent (DES). Recent several reports have shown that rotational atherectomy (RA) followed by DCB treatment (RA/DCB) could be an option of revascularization strategy particularly for calcified de-novo lesions even in the new-generation DES era; however, efficacy of the RA/DCB procedure for HD patients remains unclear.METHODS: A total of 47 consecutive cases (53 lesions) undergoing RA/DCB for de-novo lesions were enrolled. According to the presence/absence of HD at baseline, the 47 cases were divided into the HD cases (N.=16) and the non-HD cases (N.=31), and the 53 lesions were divided into the HD lesions (N.=20) and the non-HD lesions (N.=33).RESULTS: The HD cases had a significantly lower prevalence of dyslipidemia and smoking than the non-HD cases. Final RA burr size, DCB diameter used, and angiographic success rate of PCI did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. Preprocedural, post-procedural, and follow-up QCA parameters were also similar between the 2 groups. Twelve-month clinical outcomes were comparable between the 2 groups.CONCLUSIONS: Mid-term outcomes of stent-less PCI using RA/DCB for de-novo lesions in HD patients might be comparable to those in non-HD patients, suggesting efficacy of pretreatment of RA prior to DCB treatment in HD patients.

BACKGROUND:Several recent reports have shown that a stentless interventional procedure using rotational atherectomy followed by drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment (RA/DCB) is a potent revascularization therapy for calcified de novo lesions even in the new-generation drug-eluting stent era; however, the role of the RA/DCB procedure for noncalcified de novo lesions remains unclear. METHODS:A total of 47 consecutive patients (53 lesions) who underwent RA/DCB for coronary de novo lesions were enrolled. According to the presence or absence of severe calcification at target lesions on fluoroscopy, the 47 patients were divided into the noncalcified cases (n = 12) and the calcified cases (n = 35), and the 53 lesions were divided into the noncalcified lesions (n = 14) and the calcified lesions (n = 39). RESULTS:The noncalcified cases tended to have a higher frequency of bleeding risk and had a significantly lower prevalence of dual antiplatelet therapy compared with the calcified cases. The main lesion-specific factors for the RA/DCB procedure among the noncalcified lesions were presence of left circumflex coronary artery ostial lesion. The final burr size, DCB diameter used, and angiographic success rate did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. The noncalcified lesions had a larger reference diameter and a shorter lesion length than the calcified lesions, whereas acute gain and late lumen loss did not differ between the 2 groups. Nine-month clinical outcomes were comparable between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS:Under drug-eluting stent-unsuitable clinical or lesion conditions, acute and midterm outcomes of RA/DCB for noncalcified de novo lesions might be comparable with those for calcified de novo lesions.

Blunt traumatic popliteal artery occlusion is a condition on the verge of amputation ([1][1]). Open surgical repair is the first-line treatment ([1][1]), but endovascular treatment (EVT) can be successfully performed as an alternative on the basis of the clinical course. A 23-year-old man was

Background: Even in the drug-eluting stent era, ostial lesion of the right coronary artery (RCA) still remains therapeutic challenge for interventional cardiologists. Case Series Case 1 (76 y.o. male) with angina on effort underwent transradial stent-less percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using rotational atherectomy (RA) followed by drug-coated balloon (DCB) dilation alone (RA/DCB) against a calcified de novo RCA ostial lesion. Case 2 (86 y.o. female) with recurrent unstable angina and hemodialysis underwent transfemoral RA/DCB against a severe repeat in stent restenosis probably due to calcified nodule in the RCA ostium. In the both patients, PCI was successfully completed under intravascular ultrasound imaging (IVUS) guidance without complications. Follow-up CAG performed 4-5 months after the procedure revealed no significant lumen narrowing in the both RCA ostial lesions. Conclusions: The both cases suggest that stent-less PCI using RA/DCB under IVUS might be an alternative revascularization therapy of choice for calcified RCA ostial lesions. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Objectives: We investigated angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients with de novo lesions undergoing rotational atherectomy (RA) followed by drug-coated balloon (DCB) dilation (RA/DCB). Background: Implantation of drug-eluting stent (DES) has been a mainstay of the interventional treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD); however, there still remain several DES-unsuitable clinical/lesion conditions. Nowadays DCB for de novo lesions has attracted more attention, and RA, which tends not to cause major dissection but to debulk intima, might be one of suitable pre-treatments before DCB. Methods and results: Thirty patients (34 lesions) undergoing RA/DCB for de novo lesions were enrolled. Clinical/lesion background included severe calcification, calcified nodule, inlet/outlet of aneurysm, ostial lesion, severe thrombocytopenia, bleeding tendency, and/or sequelae of Kawasaki disease. The largest burr size used was 1.83 +/- 0.23 mm, and the mean DCB diameter was 2.71 +/- 0.47 mm. Angiographic success was obtained in 94% of the lesions. No acute closure but 1 no reflow occurred. Repeat angiography(mean, 6.6 months after procedure) was performed for 19 lesions. Frequency of binary restenosis was 21.1%, and late lumen loss was 0.34 +/- 0.30 mm. During a mean follow-up period of 13.1 months, 6 deaths (2 sudden deaths, 1 cardiac death, 3 non-cardiac deaths), 2 strokes, and 2 target lesion revascularizations were observed. Conclusions: Stent-less PCI using RA/DCB might be an alternative revascularization therapy for CAD patients complicated with DES-unsuitable conditions. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Objective The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between thrombocytopenia at baseline and in-hospital outcomes in unselected patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in Japan. Methods Among a total of 1,247 consecutive elective PCI-treated patients, patients with a baseline platelet count 150,000-449,000/μL and 50,000-149,000/μL were assigned to the normal platelet (n=1,009) and thrombocytopenia (n=226) groups, respectively. The thrombocytopenia group was further divided into the mild thrombocytopenia (100,000-149,000/μL, n=187) and moderate thrombocytopenia (50,000-99,000/μL, n=39) groups. Results The angiographic success rate of PCI and in-hospital mortality rate did not differ to a statistically significant extent between the normal platelet and thrombocytopenia groups or between the mild thrombocytopenia and moderate thrombocytopenia groups, whereas the moderate thrombocytopenia group had a significantly higher rate of access site-related bleeding complications than the normal platelet group. According to a multivariate analysis, moderate thrombocytopenia was an independent predictor of access site-related bleeding complications. Conclusion Among patients with mild to moderate thrombocytopenia, elective PCI might be feasible and effective in the short term; however, more attention should be paid to access site-related bleeding complications, particularly in patients with moderate thrombocytopenia.

A 77-year-old man was referred to our hospital for angina on effort. Coronary angiography and computed tomography demonstrated a single coronary artery arising from the right sinus of Valsalva. The left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) anomalously deriving near from the ostium of right coronary artery exhibited severe stenosis in the bifurcation of the obtuse marginal branch. Although the bifurcation lesion still remains a therapeutic challenge for guide extension catheter (GEC)-based percutaneous coronary intervention, under the guidance of intravascular ultrasound imaging, we successfully implanted an everolimus-eluting stent at the bifurcated LCx lesion and performed kissing balloon inflation using 0.014- and 0.010-inch systems through GECs.

Experiences of rotational atherectomy (RA) followed by drug-coated balloon (DCB) dilation alone (RA/DCB) for de novo coronary artery lesion have been limited.Case 1 (65 year-old male) with silent myocardial ischemia and hemodialysis had old anterior myocardial infarction and intact LM/LCx, and underwent RA/DCB against a diffuse calcified lesion in the proximal LAD and a tandem lesion in the proximal RCA. Case 2 (88 year-old female) with post-infarction unstable angina had severe thrombocytopenia and anemia due to myelodysplastic syndrome (platelet 6000/μL, hemoglobin 8.3 g/dL), and underwent RA/DCB against a severe stenosis in the mid LCx after transfusions. Case 3 (47 year-old male) with silent myocardial ischemia due to possible sequelae of Kawasaki disease underwent RA/DCB against a restenotic lesion at the in-let of the calcified aneurysm in the proximal LAD. In all of the patients, PCI was successfully completed under optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) without complications. Follow-up CAG performed 6-7 months after the procedure revealed no restenosis in case 1 and case 3, and all of the 3 cases have been free of cardiovascular/hemorrhagic events for 11-37 months since the last stent-less procedures.These cases suggest that RA/DCB under OFDI might be an alternative stent-less revascularization therapy of choice for patients who may be unsuitable for drug-eluting stent implantation.

•Coronary revascularization therapy under DES-unsuitable conditions remains to be established.•Rotational atherectomy followed by drug-coated balloon dilation alone is proposed as a choice.•Optical frequency domain imaging is useful during the stent-less procedure.

A 72-year-old man with hypertension was referred to our hospital for severe aortic regurgitation probably associated with quadricuspid aortic valve on transthoracic echocardiography. He felt general fatigue on effort. On physical examination, blood pressure was 166/54 mm Hg and cardiac auscultation indicated a systolic murmur at the aortic area together with a diastolic murmur at the left parasternal border. Value of brain natriuretic peptide was 258.5 pg/mL, and values of cardiac enzymes were within normal limits. An electrocardiogram showed left ventricular high voltage in addition to STsegment depression in II, III, aVF, and V6 leads. Subsequent transthoracic echocardiography revealed decreased motion in the inferoposterior wall of the dilated left ventricle (end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters of 6.3 and 4.6 cm, respectively; ejection fraction 49 %, Simpson’s method) and severe aortic regurgitation (vena contracta 6.7 mm, pressure half time 279 msec, regurgitant volume 77 mL on the proximal isovelocity surface area method, and effective regurgitant orifice area 0.38 cm) with probable quadricuspid aortic valve. Twoand three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography clearly depicted a quadricuspid asymmetric aortic valve with a large right coronary cusp, two intermediate cusps including left coronary cusp and non-coronary cusp, and a smaller accessory cusp (Hurwitz and Roberts’ classification, type D), and a severe aortic regurgitation due to the central coaptation defect (Fig. 1A, B, and C, Supplementary movie 1, 2, and 3). Pre-operative cardiac catheterization was performed (Fig. 2). Coronary angiography showed a severe stenosis in the distal segment of the pISSN 1975-4612 / eISSN 2005-9655 Copyright © 2017 Korean Society of Echocardiography www.kse-jcu.org https://doi.org/10.4250/jcu.2017.25.1.34

An 89-year-old woman appeared to have acute coronary syndrome at the left main trunk (LMT) complicated with severe aortic stenosis, moderate-severe mitral regurgitation, depressed left ventricular (LV) function, and multivessel disease. Because of sustained hypotension even under intra-aortic balloon pumping support during emergency coronary angiograhy, we performed primary percutaneous coronary intervention solely for the LMT lesion using a bare metal stent, leading to recovery from the shock state. On the second hospital day, based on our heart-team consensus, we performed aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting surgery, and added edge-to-edge repair (Alfieri stitch) of the mitral valve, resulting in complete revascularization and dramatically improved LV function.

An 83-year-old man presented with recurrent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) at the left main coronary artery (LMCA) complicated with ostial chronic total occlusion (CTO) in the right coronary artery (RCA) (RCA-CTO). At the first LMCA-ACS approximately 1 year earlier, he had undergone LMCA-crossover stenting with a biolimus-eluting stent in the presence of RCA-CTO. At the second LMCA-ACS, we angiographically confirmed severe in-stent restenosis in the distal LMCA, in addition to angled severe stenosis in the just proximal LCx, and performed primary PCI for the LMCA bifurcation lesion under intra-aortic balloon pumping support. Because of difficulty in crossing a guidewire through the just proximal LCx lesion, we first performed rotational atherectomy against the LMCA in-stent eccentric lesion. After successfully crossing the guidewire into the LCx, we added balloon dilation with kissing balloon inflation followed by alternate drug-coated balloon dilation. An eight-month follow-up coronary angiography revealed no further vessel narrowing in the LMCA bifurcation lesion.

Rotational atherectomy with/without low-pressure balloon dilation has been a mainstay of interventional treatment for stenosis due to the coronary sequelae of Kawasaki disease (KD). Here, we report a restenosis case of probable coronary sequelae of KD treated with rotational atherectomy with low-pressure 2.5-mm balloon dilation 6 months previously. Under the guidance of optical frequency domain imaging, we performed rotational atherectomy followed by 2.5-mm drug-coated balloon (DCB) dilation for an atherosclerotic restenosis at the inlet of a calcified aneurysm in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. Coronary angiography 6 months later showed no apparent progression of vessel narrowing, and we could defer repeat intervention. The present case suggests that rotational atherectomy followed by DCB dilation could be an alternative revascularization therapy of choice in coronary KD sequelae complicated with atherosclerosis.

A J-shaped or U-shaped curve phenomenon might exist between systolic blood pressure (SBP) or pulse pressure (PP) at admission and in-hospital mortality in Japanese patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, data regarding a relationship between mean blood pressure (MBP) at admission and in-hospital outcome in AMI patients undergoing primary PCI are still lacking in Japan.A total of 1,413 primary PCI-treated AMI patients were classified into quintiles based on admission MBP (< 79 n = 283, 79-91 n = 285, 92-103 n = 285, 104-115 n = 279, and ≥ 116 mmHg n = 281). Patients with MBP < 79 mmHg had a significantly higher in-hospital mortality, while mortality was not significantly different among the other quintiles: 16.6% (< 79), 4.9% (79-91), 3.9% (92-103), 3.2% (104-115), and 5.0% (≥ 116 mmHg). On multivariate analysis, Killip class ≥ 3 at admission, LMT or multivessels as culprit lesions, admission MBP < 79 mmHg, and age were independent positive predictors of in-hospital mortality, whereas hypercholesterolemia and TIMI 3 flow before/after PCI were negative predictors, while the other MBP categories were not.These results suggest that admission MBP < 79 mmHg might be associated with in-hospital death, and the in-hospital prognostic effects of MBP, the steady component of blood pressure, at admission might be different from those of SBP or PP, the pulsatile component of blood pressure, at admission in Japanese AMI patients undergoing primary PCI.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at left main trunk (LMT) is a deteriorated condition with high in-hospital morbidity and mortality; however, detailed data regarding AMI patients with LMT as culprit lesion (LMT-AMI patients) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been still limited. Using the AMI-Kyoto Multi-Center Risk Study database, clinical background, angiographic findings and results of primary PCI were retrospectively compared between primary PCI-treated LMT-AMI patients without in-hospital death (survivors, n = 21) and those with in-hospital death (non-survivors, n = 19). The survivors had higher values of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and systolic blood pressure at admission and lower prevalence of Killip grade 4 than the non-survivors. Pre-procedural thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade ≥2 at the initial coronary angiography (CAG) and post-procedural TIMI flow grade 3 at the final CAG were more frequent in the survivors, compared with the non-survivors. In contrast, age and gender did not differ significantly between the two groups. On multivariate analysis, higher eGFR and Killip grade 4 at admission were found to be independent in-hospital prognostic factors in the LMT-AMI patients. Admission eGFR and Killip grade 4 are tightly associated with in-hospital prognosis in LMT-AMI patients undergoing primary PCI.

Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) after trans-radial catheterization is an extremely rare complication. A 61-year-old man experienced a painful swelling in the left radial punctured site. The findings of vascular ultrasound and angiography led to a diagnosis of an iatrogenic radial AVF. We performed continuous compression using a hemostatic band for 24 h after which the radial AVF completely disappeared without vessel occlusion, and no relapse occurred. Eight cases of catheterization-induced radial AVF have been mentioned in the literature, but the treatment has not been noninvasive in any case. This is the first report of an iatrogenic radial AVF that was noninvasively repaired using continuous low-pressure compression with a hemostatic band. .