BACKGROUND:Patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have a high thrombotic burden and often have a high bleeding risk (HBR). Asian patients have different patterns of thrombotic and bleeding risk from other populations which may be particularly relevant in the setting of PPCI for STEMI. OBJECTIVES:To assess the safety and efficacy of the polymer free biolimus coated coronary stent (PF-BCS, BioFreedomTM, Biosensors International) in Asian STEMI patients. METHODS:Patients with acute STEMI who received at least one PF-BCS were invited to participate after their index procedure. Follow-up was performed at 1, 4, and 12 months. The primary endpoint was the rate of target lesion failure (TLF) at 1 year. A performance goal was derived from the biolimus eluting stent arm of the COMFORTABLE AMI study which was the only prior dedicated study of biolimus eluting stents in patients with STEMI. RESULTS:A total of 914 patients with STEMI were enrolled. Mean patient age was 60 ± 13 years, diabetes was present in 23.2% and 43% were active smokers. According to the ARC definition, 12.4% of the patients were HBR. TLF rate was 2.54% [95% CI: 1.52-3.56], p-value for non-inferiority <0.0001, p-value for superiority = 0.0004). The rate of definite/probable stent thrombosis was 0.44% [95% CI: 0.16-1.16]. There was a trend toward more BARC 3 to 5 bleeding in ARC-HBR patients (3.69% vs 1.46%, HR = 2.74, [95% CI: 0.87-8.62], p = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS:In Asian patients undergoing PPCI for STEMI and treated with variable durations of DAPT, the use of a PF-BCS was associated with low rates of TLF and stent thrombosis (NCT03609346).

ABSTRACT:Unfractionated heparin is the most common anticoagulant used during percutaneous coronary intervention. Practice guidelines recommend an initial weight-based heparin bolus dose between 70 and 100 U/kg to achieve target activated clotting time (ACT) of 250-300 seconds. The impact of severe obesity on weight-based heparin dosing is not well studied. We performed a retrospective analysis of 424 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention who received heparin for anticoagulation. We collected detailed data on cumulative heparin administration and measured ACT values in this cohort. We performed separate analyses to identify clinical predictors that may affect dose-response curves. There was significant variability in dosing with mean dose of 103.9 ± 32-U/kg heparin administered to achieve target ACT ≥ 250 seconds. Women received higher initial heparin doses when adjusted for weight than men (97.6 ± 31 vs. 89 ± 28 U/kg, P = 0.004), and only 49% of patients achieved ACT ≥ 250 s with the initial recommended heparin bolus dose (70-100 U/kg). Lower heparin dose (U/kg) was required in obese patients to achieve target ACT. In multivariate linear regression analysis with ACT as dependent variable, after inclusion of weight-based dosing for heparin, body mass index was the only significant covariate. In conclusion, there is significant variability in the therapeutic effect of heparin, with a lower weight-adjusted heparin dose required in obese patients.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected health care systems. Patients in need of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are especially susceptible to treatment delays. OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global TAVR activity. METHODS This international registry reported monthly TAVR case volume in participating institutions prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2018 to December 2021). Hospital -level information on public vs private, urban vs rural, and TAVR volume was collected, as was country -level information on socioeconomic status, COVID-19 incidence, and governmental public health responses. RESULTS We included 130 centers from 61 countries, including 65,980 TAVR procedures. The first and second pandemic waves were associated with a significant reduction of 15% (P < 0.001) and 7% (P < 0.001) in monthly TAVR case volume, respectively, compared with the prepandemic period. The third pandemic wave was not associated with reduced TAVR activity. A greater reduction in TAVR activity was observed in Africa (-52%; P = 0.001), Central -South America (-33%; P < 0.001), and Asia (-29%; P < 0.001). Private hospitals (P = 0.005), urban areas (P = 0.011), low -volume centers (P = 0.002), countries with lower development (P < 0.001) and economic status (P < 0.001), higher COVID-19 incidence (P < 0.001), and more stringent public health restrictions (P < 0.001) experienced a greater reduction in TAVR activity. CONCLUSIONS TAVR procedural volume declined substantially during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Africa, Central -South America, and Asia. National socioeconomic status, COVID-1 9 incidence, and public health responses were associated with treatment delays. This information should inform public health policy in case of future global health crises. (J Am Coll Cardiol Intv 2024;17:374-387) (c) 2024 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) severity is associated with increased vessel inflammation, atherosclerosis, stent failure, and risk of percutaneous coronary intervention-related complications. Current modalities for CAC modification include atherectomy techniques (rotational, orbital, and laser) and balloon modification (cutting and scoring). However, these methods are limited by their risk of slow flow/no reflow, coronary dissection, perforation, and myocardial infarction. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) emits high-energy sonic waves that induce calcium fractures within a target lesion to improve vessel compliance for stent placement. Low rates of major cardiac adverse events (MACE) and high rates of procedural and angiographic success were observed with IVL in the Disrupt CAD I-IV trials. Optical coherence tomography sub-studies identified calcium fracture as the likely etiology of improved vessel compliance and increased luminal diameter post-IVL. Rates of MACE, procedural, and angiographic success were consistent across the Disrupt CAD trials, suggesting IVL is less operator-dependent compared to other calcium-modifying techniques. Coronary IVL offers interventional cardiologists a safe and effective method of severe CAC modification, while providing reproducible outcomes.

Optical whole sky imaging (WSI) is a valuable tool for atmospheric intelligence across a diverse array of applications including solar radiation prediction and microenvironment characterization. In this work, we introduce standalone algorithms and software to render clouds of different sizes, shapes, and base heights with the goal of developing datasets suitable for machine learning applications such as cloud position and base height estimation, and resultant ground shadow prediction. Three-dimensional voxel cloud textures are generated with thresholded fractal noise and rendered with twostep ray tracing. We compare real and synthetic imagery for fisheye camera views and predict what two-camera stereo pairs might look like when the WSI cameras become operational at the Multipurpose Sensor Array (MSA) in White Sands, NM.

BACKGROUND Although current guidelines recommend beta-blockers (BBs) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the role of calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) has not been well investigated, especially nondihydropyridine. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare the effects of CCBs on cardiovascular outcomes compared with BBs in AMI because patients from East Asia have a higher incidence of a vasospastic angina component compared with Western countries. METHODS Among 15,628 patients enrolled in the KAMIR-V (Korean Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-V), we evaluated 10,650 in-hospital survivors who were treated with either CCBs or BBs. We applied a propensity score for 1:4 pair matching of baseline covariates and Cox regression to compare CCBs and BBs. The primary endpoint was all-cause death at 1 year. The secondary endpoints were 1-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, which was the composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, and readmission due to heart failure and stroke. RESULTS There was a significant interaction with the treatment arm with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (P for interaction = 0.011). CCB groups at discharge had higher 1-year cardiac death and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events for patients with LVEF <50% (HR: 4.950; 95% CI: 1.329-18.435; P = 0.017; and HR: 1.810; 95% CI: 1.038-3.158; P = 0.037, respectively) but not for patients with LVEF >= 50% (HR: 0.699; 95% CI: 0.435-1.124; P = 0.140). CONCLUSIONS CCB therapy did not increase adverse cardiovascular events for patients after AMI with preserved LVEF. CCBs can be considered as an alternative for BBs in East Asian patients after AMI with preserved LVEF. (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Although current guidelines recommend beta-blockers (BBs) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the role of calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) has not been well investigated, especially nondihydropyridine.This study aimed to compare the effects of CCBs on cardiovascular outcomes compared with BBs in AMI because patients from East Asia have a higher incidence of a vasospastic angina component compared with Western countries.Among 15,628 patients enrolled in the KAMIR-V (Korean Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-V), we evaluated 10,650 in-hospital survivors who were treated with either CCBs or BBs. We applied a propensity score for 1:4 pair matching of baseline covariates and Cox regression to compare CCBs and BBs. The primary endpoint was all-cause death at 1 year. The secondary endpoints were 1-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, which was the composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, and readmission due to heart failure and stroke.There was a significant interaction with the treatment arm with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (P for interaction = 0.011). CCB groups at discharge had higher 1-year cardiac death and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events for patients with LVEF <50% (HR: 4.950; 95% CI: 1.329-18.435; P = 0.017; and HR: 1.810; 95% CI: 1.038-3.158; P = 0.037, respectively) but not for patients with LVEF ≥50% (HR: 0.699; 95% CI: 0.435-1.124; P = 0.140).CCB therapy did not increase adverse cardiovascular events for patients after AMI with preserved LVEF. CCBs can be considered as an alternative for BBs in East Asian patients after AMI with preserved LVEF.

Left main coronary artery disease subtends a large area of potentially jeopardized myocardium. Percutaneous coronary intervention for severe left main coronary artery disease is a reasonable treatment option for select patients. Severe coronary artery calcium of the left main artery increases the complexity of percutaneous coronary intervention and is associated with increased risk of periprocedural complications and worse long-term clinical outcomes. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) utilizes sonic pressure waves to modify severe coronary artery calcium and has emerged as a safe and effective alternative to coronary atherectomy. However, left main lesions were excluded from regulatory approval clinical trials of IVL. Herein, we review all available data regarding the use of IVL treatment for severe left main coronary artery disease.

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is a viable treatment option for end-stage liver disease. Significant perioperative stress is placed on the cardiovascular system because of hemodynamic changes and the length of the operation. Diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease before OLT are imperative to ensure favorable outcomes. Considerable variability exists among practitioners caring for these patients. Institutions tailor their protocols on the basis of local and historical practices, the preferences of the cardiologists, and the OLT team, and algorithms are not often revised or updated on the basis of the available evidence. In collaboration with cardiology and hepatology experts from leading OLT centers, we sought to examine the diagnostic cardiovascular workup of OLT candidates, including a review of the available literature on the diagnostic modalities used to screen cardiovascular disease before OLT. We advocate an emphasis on noninvasive methods to assess cardiovascular risk with reserved use of invasive risk stratification in select patients.

Aims Atrial fibrillation (AF) is linked to an increased risk of dementia, even in stroke-free patients. The impact of statin therapy on dementia risk is unclear in AF patients receiving oral anticoagulant (OAC) (vitamin K antagonist and direct-acting OAC). We sought to investigate the impact of statin therapy on dementia risk in AF patients receiving OAC. Methods and results Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, 91 018 non-valvular AF (NVAF) patients from January 2013 to December 2017 were included in the analysis. Of the total, 17 700 patients (19.4%) were in the statin therapy group, and 73 318 patients (80.6%) were in the non-statin therapy group. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of dementia. The median duration of follow-up was 2.1 years. Statin therapy was associated with a significantly lower dementia risk than non-statin therapy for CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc scores & GE;2 (hazard ratio = 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.64-0.90, P = 0.026) in NVAF patients receiving OAC. The statin therapy group had a significantly lower dementia risk in a dose-dependent relationship compared with the non-statin therapy group (P for trend <0.001). Conclusion In NVAF patients who received OAC, statin therapy lowered the dementia risk compared with no statin therapy. Furthermore, statin therapy is associated with a dose-dependent reduction in dementia risk.

Background: Today, medical technology and healthcare advances have led to an increased life expectancy; however, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, stroke, and cardiovascular events is continuously rising. In particular, hypertension is a crucial factor in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and it is known that prevention and management are essential. Objectives: This study investigates the prevalence and management of hypertension in Korean adults and evaluates its correlation with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke. Method: The Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (KNHANES) database was utilized for this study (https://knhanes.cdc.go.kr). The subjects of this survey were sampled to represent the entire population of Korea. The study aims to assess the risk of CVD and stroke according to the duration of hypertension. We also examined the impact of hypertension control on the risk of CVD and stroke. This study is a retrospective cross-sectional study, so future risks cannot be assessed, but only the disease status at the same time point. Results: A total of 61,379 subjects were enrolled in the KNHANES database, representing Korea’s population of 49,068,178 subjects. The prevalence of hypertension was 25.7% (9,965,618 subjects) of the total population. The prevalence of hypertension increased rapidly with the age of the population. As the duration of hypertension increased, the risks of CVD and stroke also increased. When hypertension lasts longer than 20 years, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke prevalence were 14.6%, 5.0%, and 12.2%, respectively. However, achieving a target blood pressure (BP) goal below 140/90 mmHg reduced the risk of all CVD and stroke by nearly half. Nevertheless, fewer than two-thirds of patients in Korea with hypertension achieved this targeted blood pressure goal. Conclusions: Our study confirmed that the prevalence of hypertension in Korean adults was higher than a quarter but also showed that the risk of CVD and stroke was significantly reduced by achieving optimal blood pressure control. Based on these results, policy efforts are needed to reach the target BP and improve the treatment rates for hypertension in Korea.

Traditionally, percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC) is performed under fluoroscopy only. In difficult cases, general anesthesia with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance is needed. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) enables operators to perform PMC under local anesthesia while providing intra-procedural imaging guidance, as in TEE. Hereby, we describe a case of PMC guided by ICE to allow early detection of complications.

Background: The ideal cardiac risk stratification strategy for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is unknown. Our institution performed coronary angiography for asymptomatic OLT candidates at high risk for CAD: >= 65 years of age, diabetic and >= 55 years of age or diagnosed >= 5 years, abnormal stress test, or at the discretion of the OLT committee. Methods: The analysis included 301 consecutive, asymptomatic OLT candidates who underwent coronary angiography. The primary outcome was the prevalence of obstructive CAD. Results: At 2-year follow-up, OLT was performed in 44.9%, and 42.2% died. The prevalence of obstructive CAD, involvement of the proximal or mid LAD, and 3-vessel CAD were 10.3%, 6.6%, and 0.7%, respectively. Percutaneous and surgical revascularization were performed in 7.0% and 1.3%, respectively. Stress test was performed in 54.8%. The sensitivity and specificity of stress testing were 0% and 87.1%, respectively. The negative and positive predictive values of stress testing were 91.4% and 0%, respectively. Chest computed tomography (CT) was performed in 83.1%. Moderate or severe coronary artery calcification (CAC) was present in 47.8%. The sensitivity and specificity of moderate or severe CAC were 88.9% and 57.3%, respectively. The negative and positive predictive values of moderate or severe CAC were 97.7% and 20.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CAC was an independent predictor of obstructive CAD (HR 10.7; 95% CI 3.2-37.9; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of obstructive CAD in asymptomatic OLT candidates at high risk was uncommon. Alternative diagnostic strategies may be preferred to coronary angiography. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.

It is my pleasure and honor to introduce the latest issue of “Complex Coronary Intervention” in Interventional Cardiology Clinics. It has been 6 years since the last issue of “Complex Coronary Intervention” was published. This issue includes some of the most influential interventional cardiologists of all time, including Dr Seung-Jung Park, who is widely considered the father of left main percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). His pioneering work in left main disease pushed the envelope to treat lesions that were previously considered taboo.

The COMBO biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent includes endothelial progenitor cell capture (EPC) technology for rapid endothelialization, which may offer advantage in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We sought to analyze the performance of the COMBO stent by ACS status and ACS subtype. The COMBO collaboration (n = 3614) is a patient-level pooled dataset from the MASCOT and REMEDEE registries. We evaluated outcomes by ACS status, and ACS subtype in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or non-STEMI (NSTEMI) versus unstable angina (UA). The primary endpoint was 1-year target lesion failure (TLF), composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically driven target lesion revascularization. Secondary outcomes included stent thrombosis (ST). We compared 1965 (54%) ACS and 1649 (46.0%) non-ACS patients. ACS presentations included 40% (n = 789) STEMI, 31% (n = 600) NSTEMI, and 29% (n = 576) UA patients. Risk of 1-year TLF was greater in ACS patients (4.5% vs. 3.3%, HR 1.51 95% CI 1.01–2.25, p = 0.045) without significant differences in definite/probable ST (1.1% vs 0.5%, HR 2.40, 95% CI 0.91–6.31, p = 0.08). One-year TLF was similar in STEMI, NSTEMI, and UA (4.8% vs 4.8% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.60), but definite/probable ST was higher in STEMI patients (1.9% vs 0.5% vs 0.7%, p = 0.03). Adjusted outcomes were not different in MI versus UA patients. Despite the novel EPC capture technology, COMBO stent PCI was associated with somewhat greater risk of 1-year TLF in ACS than in non-ACS patients, without significant differences in stent thrombosis. No differences were observed in 1-year TLF among ACS subtypes.

Aim: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in countries participating in the Stent-Save a Life (SSL) global initiative. Methods and Results: We conducted a multicenter observational survey to collect data on patient admissions for ACS, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and PPCI in participating SSL member countries through a period during the COVID-19 outbreak (March and April 2020) compared with the equivalent period in 2019. Of the 32 member countries of the SSL global initiative, 17 agreed to participate in the survey (three in Africa, five in Asia, six in Europe and three in Latin America). Overall reductions of 27.5% and 20.0% were observed in admissions for ACS and STEMI, respectively. The decrease in PPCI was 26.7%. This trend was observed in all except two countries. In these two, the pandemic peaked later than in the other countries. Conclusions: This survey shows that the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with a significant reduction in hospital admissions for ACS and STEMI as well as a reduction in PPCI, which can be explained by both patient- and system-related factors. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. on behalf of Sociedade Portuguese de Cardiologia.

BACKGROUND:Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have known to a high risk of cardiac mortality. However, the effectiveness of the routine evaluation of coronary arteries such as routine coronary angiography (CAG) in PAD patients receiving percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is unclear.METHODS:A total of 765 consecutive PAD patients underwent successful PTA and 674 patients (88.1%) underwent routine CAG. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined as angiographic stenosis ≥70%. Patients were divided into three groups; 1) routine CAG and a presence of CAD (n = 413 patients), 2) routine CAG and no CAD group (n = 261 patients), and 3) no CAG group (n = 91 patients). To adjust for any potential confounders that could cause bias, multivariable Cox-proportional hazards regression and propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier curved analysis at 5-year follow-up.RESULTS:In this study, the 5-year survival rate of patients with PAD who underwent PTA was 88.5%. Survival rates were similar among the CAD group, the no CAD group, and the no CAG group, respectively (87.7% vs. 90.4% vs. 86.8% P = 0.241). After PSM analysis between the CAD group and the no CAD group, during the 5-year clinical follow-up, there were no differences in the incidence of death, myocardial infarction, strokes, peripheral revascularization, or target extremity surgeries between the two groups except for repeat PCI, which was higher in the CAD group than the non-CAD group (9.3% vs. 0.8%, P<0.001).CONCLUSION:PAD patients with CAD were expected to have very poor long-term survival, but they are shown no different long-term prognosis such as mortality compared to PAD patients without CAD. These PAD patients with CAD had received PCI and/or optimal medication treatment after the CAG. Therefore a strategy of routine CAG and subsequent PCI, if required, appears to be a reasonable strategy for mortality risk reduction of PAD patients. Our results highlight the importance for evaluation for CAD in patients with PAD.

Localization, tracking, and classification requires precise recovery of the target signal amidst a sea of environmental noise and reflections from terrain and buildings. In this work, we use machine learning (ML), specifically generative-adversarial networks (GANs), to remove a range of synthetic additive noise and convolutional reverberations from a well-defined subset of sounds, namely English speech. Unlike simple denoising autoencoders, GANs attempt to generate realistic solutions, suppressing the production of unresolved (i.e., blurry) mixed inferences. We demonstrate that our models can dynamically resolve varying amounts of noise and convolution, which will be important in the field, where the amount and type of signal degradation will generally be unknown. While we focus only on speech here, ML-based deconvolution can also be applied to the restoration of images, radar, radio, and acoustic and seismic sensing distorted by weather, interference, and reflections.

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) determines the functional significance of epicardial stenoses assuming negligible venous pressure (Pv) and microvascular resistance. However, these assumptions may be invalid in end-stage liver disease (ESLD) because of fluctuating Pv and vasodilation. Accordingly, all patients with ESLD who underwent right-sided cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography with FFR as part of their orthotopic liver transplantation evaluation between 2013 and 2018 were included in the present study. Resting mean distal coronary pressure (Pd)/mean aortic pressure (Pa), FFR, and Pv were measured. FFR accounting for Pv (FFR - Pv) was defined as (Pd - Pv)/(Pa - Pv). The hyperemic effect of adenosine was defined as resting Pd/Pa - FFR. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 1 year. In 42 patients with ESLD, 49 stenoses were interrogated by FFR (90% were <70% diameter stenosis). Overall, the median model for ESLD score was 16.5 (10.8 to 25.5), FFR was 0.87 (0.81 to 0.94), Pv was 8 mm Hg (4 to 14), FFR-Pv was 0.86 (0.80 to 0.94), and hyperemic effect of adenosine was 0.06 (0.02 to 0.08). FFR-Pv led to the reclassification of 1 stenosis as functionally significant. There was no significant correlation between the median model for ESLD score and the hyperemic effect of adenosine (R = 0.10). At 1 year, 13 patients had died (92% noncardiac in etiology), and patients with FFR ≤0.80 had significantly higher all-cause mortality (73% vs 17%, p = 0.001. In conclusion, in patients with ESLD who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation evaluation, Pv has minimal impact on FFR, and the hyperemic effect of adenosine is preserved. Furthermore, even in patients with the predominantly angiographically-intermediate disease, FFR ≤0.80 was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality.

Ray tracing simulations are a common tool for commercial and military planning. In this work, we explore whether neural networks can be trained to accurately reproduce the results of these simulations. We create a large, procedurally generated urban dataset with which to train neural networks. We then utilize a tailored convolutional autoencoder to learn from the dataset. By iteratively predicting each set of reflected rays, we find the model is able to predict sharp, distinct ray propagation with low error for low numbers of reflections. This error increases significantly at two reflections, indicating further work is needed to capture the more complicated behavior that higher reflection numbers entail.