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Little evidence is available regarding the long-term outcome in elderly patients after deferral of revascularization based on fractional flow reserve (FFR).Methods and Results: From the J-CONFIRM registry (long-term outcomes of Japanese patients with deferral of coronary intervention based on fractional flow reserve in multicenter registry), 1,262 patients were divided into 2 groups according to age: elderly and younger patients (aged ≥75 or75 years, respectively). The primary endpoint was the cumulative 5-year incidence of target vessel failure (TVF), defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction (TVMI), and clinically driven target vessel revascularization (CDTVR). Cumulative 5-year incidence of TVF was not significantly different between elderly and younger patients (14.3% vs. 10.8%, P=0.12). Cardiac death occurred more frequently in elderly patients than younger patients (4.4% vs. 0.8%, P0.001), whereas TVMI and CDTVR did not differ between groups (1.3% vs. 0.9%, P=0.80; 10.7% vs. 10.1%, P=0.80, respectively). FFR values in lesions with diameter stenosis50% were significantly higher in elderly patients than in younger patients (0.88±0.07 vs. 0.85±0.07, P=0.01), whereas this relationship was not observed in those with diameter stenosis ≥50%.Elderly patients had no excess risk of ischemic events related to the deferred coronary lesions by FFR, although FFR values in mild coronary artery stenosis were modestly different between elderly and younger patients.

Background: The presence of a calcified nodule (CN) is associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study clarified the optimal management of CNs by reassessing the PCI strategy in association with patient background characteristics and clinical outcomes. Methods and Results: Among 5,332 consecutive PCI cases managed using intra-coronary imaging, CNs were found in 167 lesions (3.1%). CNs were predominantly located at the proximal or mid-right coronary artery (RCA; 62%). More than half presented clinically as acute coronary syndrome (ACS; 56%). All-cause mortality and the target lesion revascularization (TLR) rate at 1 year were 13% and 23%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that hemodialysis, diabetes, and ACS were independent risk factors for all-cause death, whereas hemodialysis and RCA location were independent risk factors for TLR. Regarding the PCI strategy, not using rotational atherectomy (RA) was significantly associated with restenosis, whereas placing a drug-eluting stent (DES) was not. Conclusions: Both hemodialysis and RCA location were strong predictors of poor outcomes after PCI for CN. Because not using RA was significantly associated with restenosis, it may be better to use RA whenever possible.

Background: Amyloid transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloidosis has now been recognized as one of the major causes of heart failure, especially in elderly patients. The purpose of the present study was to validate the usefulness of technetium-99 m (99 mTc)-pyrophosphate (99 mTc-PYP) scintigraphy in the screening diagnosis for ATTR amyloidosis in daily clinical practice. Methods and Results: Ninety-eight patients underwent 99 mTc-PYP scintigraphy in the previous 3 years (PYP positive/negative, 18/80), of whom 29 underwent concomitant endomyocardial biopsy (ATTR positive/negative, 9/20). The sensitivity and specificity of 99 mTc-PYP scintigraphy for the diagnosis of biopsy-proven ATTR amyloidosis were 0.889 and 0.950, respectively. Age, gender, N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level, or electrocardiogram findings did not differ significantly between PYP-positive and PYP-negative patients. Left ventricular (LV) wall thickness was significantly greater in PYP-positive than in PYP-negative patients, but LV ejection fraction or prevalence of atrial fibrillation was similar between groups. In the PYP-positive patients, higher uptake of PYP correlated with younger age and lower NT-proBNP. Conclusions: 99 mTc-PYP scintigraphy was useful, with high sensitivity and specificity in the screening diagnosis for ATTR cardiac amyloidosis, which is difficult to diagnose on clinical characteristics alone. 99 mTc-PYP scintigraphy should be considered to elucidate the underlying causes of heart failure, especially in elderly patients based on the higher prevalence of ATTR cardiac amyloidosis in this population.