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A recent thinner strut drug-eluting stent might facilitate early strut coverage after its placement. We aimed to investigate early vascular healing responses after the placement of an ultrathin-strut bioresorbable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (BP-SES) compared to those with a durable-polymer everolimus-eluting stent (DP-EES) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.This study included 40 patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) who underwent OCT-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Twenty patients each received either BP-SES or DP-EES implantation. OCT was performed immediately after stent placement (baseline) and at 1-month follow-up.At one month, the percentage of uncovered struts reduced significantly in both the BP-SES (80.9 ± 10.3% to 2.9 ± 1.7%; P < 0.001) and DP-EES (81.9 ± 13.0% to 5.7 ± 1.8%; P < 0.001) groups, and the percentage was lower in the BP-SES group than in the DP-EES group (P < 0.001). In the BP-SES group, the percentage of malapposed struts also decreased significantly at 1 month (4.9 ± 3.7% to 2.6 ± 3.0%; P = 0.025), which was comparable to that of the DP-EES group (2.5 ± 2.2%; P = 0.860). The optimal cut-off value of the distance between the strut and vessel surface immediately after the placement to predict resolved malapposed struts was ≤ 160 μm for BP-SES and ≤ 190 μm for DP-EES.Compared to DP-EES, ultrathin-strut BP-SES demonstrated favorable vascular responses at one month, with a lower rate of uncovered struts and a comparable rate of malapposed struts.

Recent clinical studies suggest that newer-generation drug-eluting stents that combine ultrathin struts and nanocoating (biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stents, BP-SES) could improve long-term clinical outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the early vascular response to BP-SES in these patients has not been investigated so far.We examined this response in 20 patients with STEMI caused by plaque rupture using frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to understand the underlying mechanisms. Plaque rupture was diagnosed by OCT before PCI with BP-SES implantation was performed. OCT was again performed before the final angiography (post-PCI) and after 2 weeks (2W-OCT).BP-SES placement caused protrusion of atherothrombotic material into the stent lumen and incomplete stent apposition in all patients. After 2 weeks, incomplete stent apposition was significantly reduced (% malapposed struts: post-PCI 4.7 ± 3.3%; 2W-OCT 0.9 ± 1.2%; P < 0.0001), and the percentage of uncovered struts also significantly decreased (% uncovered struts: post-PCI; 69.8 ± 18.3%: 2W-OCT; 29.6 ± 11.0%, P < 0.0001). The maximum protrusion area of the atherothrombotic burden was significantly reduced (post-PCI 1.36 ± 0.70 mm2; 2W-OCT 0.98 ± 0.55 mm2; P = 0.004).This study on the early vascular responses following BP-SES implantation showed rapid resolution of atherothrombotic material and progression of strut apposition and coverage. (UMIN000041324).

Highlights • Even small declines in renal function are associated with worse short-term outcomes after AMI. • The clinical impact of the timing of acute kidney injury (AKI) onset after AMI is unknown. • Early-phase AKI is associated with poor long-term mortality. • Late-phase AKI is not associated with poor long-term mortality. • Careful clinical attention and intensive care should be used in patients with early-phase AKI after AMI., Background The mechanisms and clinical impact of acute kidney injury (AKI) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may differ depending on whether AKI develops during the early or late phase after AMI. The present study assessed the timing of AKI onset and the prognostic impact on long-term outcomes in patients hospitalized with AMI. Methods The present study enrolled consecutive AMI survivors who had undergone successful percutaneous coronary interventions at admission. AKI was defined as an increase in the serum creatinine level of ≥0.3 mg/dL above the admission value within 7 days of hospitalization. AKI patients were further divided into two subgroups (early-phase AKI: within 3 days vs. late-phase AKI: 4 to 7 days after AMI onset). The primary endpoint was all-cause death. Results In total, 506 patients were included in this study, with 385 men and a mean age of 69.5 ± 13.5 years old. The mean follow-up duration was 1289.5 ± 902.8 days. AKI developed in 127 patients (25.1%). Long-term mortality was significantly higher in the AKI group than in the non-AKI group (log-rank p

A pivotal trial indicated that an initial invasive strategy did not improve the clinical outcomes in patients with moderate or severe ischemic heart disease and advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) as compared with an initial conservative strategy. It is well known that contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is associated with worse prognosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Minimum contrast PCI may lower the risk of CIN and improve the clinical outcomes of ischemic heart disease and advanced CKD. Here we report a case involving a 46-year-old woman with ischemic cardiomyopathy who was scheduled to start hemodialysis for end-stage diabetic nephropathy but exhibited improved renal function in accordance with the left ventricular function after PCI with an extremely low contrast dose. Accordingly, dialysis was not performed, and the patient did not require it for >2 years after coronary revascularization. The present case supports aggressive examination and revascularization for severe heart failure with an extremely low amount of contrast, even if the patient has complex coronary lesions and end-stage CKD.

Aim: This study investigated whether the small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sd-LDL-c) level is associated with the rapid progression (RP) of non-culprit coronary artery lesions and cardiovascular events (CE) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: In 142 consecutive patients with ACS who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention for the culprit lesion, the sd-LDL-c level was measured using a direct homogeneous assay on admission for ACS and at the 10-month follow-up coronary angiography. RP was defined as a progression of any pre-existing coronary stenosis and/or stenosis development in the initially normal coronary artery. CEs were defined as cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or coronary revascularization. Results: Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence ( n =29) or absence ( n =113) of RP after 10 months. The LDL-c and sd-LDL-c levels at baseline were equivalent in both the groups. However, the sd-LDL-c, triglyceride, remnant lipoprotein cholesterol (RL-c), and apoC3 levels at follow-up were significantly higher in the RP group than in the non-RP group. The optimal threshold values of sd-LDL-c, triglyceride, RL-c, and apoC3 for predicting RP according to receiver operating characteristics analysis were 20.9, 113, 5.5, and 9.7 mg/dL, respectively. Only the sd-LDL-c level (≥ 20.9 mg/dL) was significantly associated with incident CEs at 31±17 months (log-rank: 4.123, p =0.043). Conclusions: The sd-LDL-c level on treatment was significantly associated with RP of non-culprit lesions, resulting in CEs in ACS patients. On-treatment sd-LDL-c is a residual risk and aggressive reduction of sd-LDL-c might be needed to prevent CEs.

Background Recent clinical study suggests newer-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) that combine ultrathin strut and nano-coating with biodegradable polymers sirolimus-eluting stent (BP-SES) could improve long-term clinical outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) over current generation DES. However, safety profiles in very early phase have not been systematically addressed. Objective and method We exploratory investigate early vascular response following BP-SES implantation in patients with STEMI to reveal mechanism of the favorable clinical outcomes in recent studies using frequency domain-optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT). Consecutive twenty patients with STEMI who underwent FD-OCT immediately after primary PCI and were eligible for follow-up FD-OCT at 2 weeks after implantation were enrolled between June 2018 and November 2019. Results Twenty patients (age 62.7±11.3 years, male 85.0%) were enrolled with frequencies of hypertension (45.0%), diabetes mellitus (35.0%), dyslipidemia (55.0%) and smoking (80.0%). Aspiration catheter were used in all patients, and 1.13±0.34 stents were used. Only one patient (5.0%) received chronic antiplatelet therapy with aspirin prior to the onset of STEMI. All patients started to receive prasugrel as thienopyridine from this event and continued dual antiplatelet therapy for 2 weeks. The percentage of uncovered struts significantly decreased from post-procedure to 2W follow-up (69±18% post-procedure versus 30±11% at 2W follow up, p Conclusion(s) This study firstly elucidated very early vascular responses following ultrathin strut BP-SES implantation in STEMI patients, showing early progression of strut coverage and resolution of athero-thrombotic materials. This technology may have a potential to overcome the current generation DESs in this clinical setting. Thrombus, uncovered and malapposed struts Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Background Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is one of most reliable index for the determining the functional severity coronary artery stenosis. Adenosine is the most commonly used agent for maximal hyperaemia. However, adenosine can cause chest discomfort, bronchial hyper-reactivity, and atrioventricular block. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intracoronary nicorandil as an alternative hyperaemic agent for FFR. Methods and results We enrolled consecutive 82 patients (87 lesions) who underwent FFR measurement in our center from Nov. 2018. We compared three groups; intravenous infusion of adenosine (150 μg/kg/min); and adenosine added intracoronary nicorandil 2mg; and intracoronary nicorandil 4mg. Mean FFR value was 0.83±0.09, 0.82±0.09, 0.82±0.08, There was a strong correlation among three groups (R2>0.9). Mean cyclic change in FFR was 0.026±0.023, 0.019±0.010, 0.016±0.014, respectively, cyclic change was smallest in intracoronary nicorandil 4mg group (vs ATP; p Conclusions Intracoronary nicorandil 4mg is a simple, safe, and effective way to induce steady-state hyperaemia for FFR. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Plasma levels of atherothrombosis-related markers such as endothelial biomarkers have been reported to predict the risk of first acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by balloon angioplasty and stenting established as a treatment for ACS enabled early discharge and early clinic care. The procedure of PCI, however, may itself be associated with arterial injury with endothelial dysfunction. The clinical significance of those biomarkers for second events in patients after PCI has not yet been completely understood to identify patients who need strict follow-up.After the exclusion of 100 patients (60 deaths during hospitalization, 40 severe renal failure), 400 ACS patients (291 males, 71.1±13.0 years) who had undergone successful PCI followed by biomarker assessment within the first postoperative hour were enrolled. We evaluated atherothrombosis-related biomarkers: thrombomodulin (TM), C-reactive protein (CRP), and D-dimer, prothrombin fragment F1+2, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, other than those assessed by routine biochemical tests. The outcome after PCI in ACS patients was assessed by the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs).MACEs occurred in 112 patients during the follow-up period (813.9±474.8 days). As in previous reports, patients with MACEs showed decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by echocardiography, elevated brain natriuretic peptide and HbA1c than patients without MACEs. Not only these markers but also TM were significantly associated with MACEs in multivariate analysis. There were no significant correlations between MACEs and CRP. The association between TM and MACEs was especially high (odds ratio 2.73) and unaffected by the stage of cardiac (≤40, 40LVEF≤55, 55%) or renal function (≤40, 40creatinine clearance≤75, 75ml/min).TM is independently associated with MACEs and may be predictive of second events in patients after PCI for ACS. ACS patients with high TM value need strict follow up.

Rotational atherectomy (rotablation) has been proposed as a potentially superior strategy for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in complex and severely calcified lesions.We hypothesized that a per-lesion coronary artery calcium score determined by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) would be useful for predicting the requriement for rotablation during PCI.MDCT was performed in patients with stable angina pectoris who were scheduled for first PCI. In 116 consecutive subjects (168 target lesions) with successful PCI, MDCT and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) data were retrospectively evaluated regarding their ability to predict rotablation.PCI without rotablation was performed in 105 patients (154 lesions), and rotablation was added in 11 patients (14 lesions). Patients with rotablation had significantly higher SYNTAX scores (p = 0.007) and total calcium scores (p 0.001) than those without rotablation. Per-lesion, a lesion length ≥20 mm and diameter stenosis ≥74% on QCA as well as a per-lesion calcium score ≥453 and calcification arc ≥270 in MDCT predicted rotablation. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, a high per-lesion calcium score was an independent predictor of rotablation (odds ratio 31.3, 95% confidence interval 2.8-345, p = 0.005, sensitivity 93% and specificity 88%).The extent of target lesion calcification in MDCT, a simple marker of calcified plaque, is useful for predicting the need for rotablation during PCI.

Our data shows the regional coronary artery calcium scores (lesion CAC) on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and the cross-section imaging on MDCT angiography (CTA) in the target lesion of the patients with stable angina pectoris who were scheduled for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). CAC and CTA data were measured using a 128-slice scanner (Somatom Definition AS+; Siemens Medical Solutions, Forchheim, Germany) before PCI. CAC was measured in a non-contrast-enhanced scan and was quantified using the Calcium Score module of SYNAPSE VINCENT software (Fujifilm Co. Tokyo, Japan) and expressed in Agatston units. CTA were then continued with a contrast-enhanced ECG gating to measure the severity of the calcified plaque condition. We present that both CAC and CTA data are used as a benchmark to consider the addition of rotational atherectomy during PCI to severely calcified plaque lesions. Keywords: Coronary artery calcium scores, Multidetector computed tomography, CT angiography, Rotational atherectomy, Percutaneous coronary intervention