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Background: The venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) cannula can be surgically removed, but postoperative complications and surgical staffing issues can be problematic. We previously reported a method of percutaneously removing the arterial cannula of VA-ECMO by combining intravascular balloon dilation and the Perclose ProGlide (PP) closure device. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of this percutaneous decannulation of the VA-ECMO., Methods: This multicenter, retrospective study involved consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous VA-ECMO decannulation at 2 cardiovascular centers from September 2019 to December 2021. We analyzed 37 patients in whom the VA-ECMO cannula was removed by the percutaneous procedure with balloon dilation and the PP. The primary end point was procedural success of hemostasis. The secondary end points were the procedural time, procedure-related complications, and rate of surgical conversion., Results: The patients' mean age was 65.4 years. The approach site of the endovascular therapy (EVT) procedures were the transradial approach (56.8%), transfemoral approach (27.8%), and transbrachial approach (18.9%). The mean balloon diameter was 7.3 ± 0.68 mm, and the mean balloon inflation time was 14.8 ± 7.3 min. The mean procedure time was 58.5 ± 27.0 min. The procedure success rate was 94.6%, procedure-related complication rate was 10.8%, procedure-related death and postprocedural infection rate was 0.0%, surgical conversion rate was 0.0%, and EVT access site complication rate was 2.7%., Conclusions: We concluded that percutaneous VA-ECMO decannulation using a combination of intravascular balloon dilation in EVT and the PP appears to be a safe, minimally invasive, and effective procedure., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Paclitaxel-eluting technologies improve the clinical outcome of femoropopliteal (FP) occlusive disease. Several studies reported efficacy of the high-dose (nominal paclitaxel density of 3.5 μg/mm 2 ) drug-coated balloon (DCB) for complex FP lesions. However, previous studies of DCB have shown a high rate of bailout stents, and few studies have compared the high-dose DCB with successful lesion pre-dilation without bailout stent and drug-eluting stent (DES) in chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the superficial femoral artery (SFA). This study aimed to compare the clinical outcome of high-dose DCB with successful lesion preparation and DES in CTO of the SFA., Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective study. From June 2018 to November 2020, we compared 41 patients (43 lesions) treated with high-dose DCB and 36 patients (37 lesions) treated with DES. The study period was defined as the period after DCB and DES became available simultaneously at our hospital, when all surviving patients had at least 1 year of follow-up. The primary endpoint was 12-month primary patency. The secondary endpoints were 12-month freedom from: (1) clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR), and (2) re-occlusion., Results: Baseline clinical data were comparable between the two groups. Reference vessel diameter was smaller in the DCB group. The mean lesion and occlusion lengths were about the same in both groups. The subintimal angioplasty and bailout stent rate was 0% in the DCB group. The Kaplan-Meier estimate for 12-month primary patency was 92.0% in the DCB group and 87.2% in the DES group (p = 0.47). Freedom from CD-TLR also did not differ significantly between the two groups. The 12-month freedom from re-occlusion rate tended to be higher in the DCB group than in the DES group., Conclusions: High-dose DCB with successful lesion preparation showed 12-month clinical outcomes comparable with DES for CTO of the SFA, even without bailout stents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest regarding the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Currently, bradycardia treatment is limited to permanent pacemaker (PM) implantation. No consensus exists as to its optimal medication regimen. However, as cilostazol accelerates heart rate (HR) in bradycardia, we investigated its efficacy for sick sinus syndrome (SSS) to avoid permanent PM implantation., Methods: This was a retrospective, case-control study. We included 192 consecutive patients diagnosed with SSS (after applying some exclusion criteria), of whom 54 received cilostazol (cilostazol group) and 138 did not receive cilostazol (control group). The primary endpoint was the PM implantation rate after 6 months; secondary endpoints were 1- and 3-month PM implantation rates, HR after 1 week, 1 and 6 months, and cilostazol side effects., Results: The 6-month PM implantation rate was lower in the cilostazol than the control group (20.4% vs. 55.8%, respectively; p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, cilostazol decreased the 6-month PM implantation rate (OR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.08-0.55; p=0.001). Although baseline HR was significantly lower in the cilostazol group, HR in this group increased and did not significantly differ between the two groups after 1 week, 1 and 6 months. In subgroup analyses of symptomatic patients, the PM implantation rates after 6 months were significantly lower in the cilostazol group than in the control group., Conclusions: Cilostazol was effective for symptomatic SSS to avoid PM implantation by increasing HR., (Copyright © 2019 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Complications after implantation of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), including permanent pacemakers (PMs) and other CIEDs, are associated with increased patient mortality and healthcare costs. This study aimed to investigate overall complications after implantation of CIEDs, analyze the associated risk factors, and compare complications after PM implantation between hospitals that performed only PM implantations (PM-only hospitals) and hospitals that implanted other CIEDs, as well as PMs (all-CIED hospitals)., Methods: Using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, we retrospectively collected data on inpatients who underwent CIED implantation from 1 July 2010 to 31 March 2014., Results: A total of 77,324 patients were identified, including 64,951 patients with PMs and 12,373 with other CIEDs. The overall incidences of in-hospital complications were 2.5% in patients with PMs and 2.1% in those with other CIEDs. The incidences of pocket infections, pocket problems, device- and lead-related problems, and sepsis were 0.9%, 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.3%, respectively. The crude proportion of complications after PM implantation was higher in the PM-only hospitals than in the all-CIED hospitals (3.1% vs. 2.1%), but the multivariable logistic regression analysis showed no significant difference (odds ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.68)., Conclusion: After adjusting for patient backgrounds, the occurrence of complications after PM implantation was not significantly different between patients in PM-only hospitals and those in all-CIED hospitals., (Copyright © 2017 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)