A study of unprotected left main intervention in the ACS population 2013–2018

ObjectivesOur objectives were to evaluate the outcomes of left main percutaneous coronary interventions in Acute Coronary Syndrome population.MethodsThis is a retrospective& observational study. Primary endpoint is a composite of death, stent thrombosis/MI, target lesion revascularization. Secondary endpoints include individual components of the primary events analyzed separately.ResultsSeventy five patients, two year follow – up data was analyzed. The primary event analysis showed that the Elective Double Stent (EDS) group had a higher primary events (36% vs. 14%, p value – 0.008, Hazard ratio – 0.76 (0.51–1.15, 95% CI), in secondary event analysis stent thrombosis (ST)/Myocardial infarction (MI) rates were higher in EDS group (8% Vs 36%, p Value – 0.008, Hazard ratio- 0.63(0.35–1.14, 95%CI), there is no difference in target lesion revascularization (TLR)and death rates in both the groups.ConclusionsThe provisional strategy is better than EDS in treatment of left main bifurcation lesions in the ACS population.     

胆总管结石内镜逆行胰胆管造影术后行胆道支架置入和鼻胆管引流并发症的比较

目的探讨胆总管结石患者采用内镜逆行胰胆管造影术（ERCP）取石后同期开展胆道支架置入术或开展经内镜鼻胆管引流术（ENBD），对于防范并发症的价值。 方法按照前瞻性研究原则，选择2017年4月至2019年1月新疆医科大学第一附属医院收治的338例胆总管结石患者，随机分为支架组（170例）与引流组（168例）。两组患者均行ERCP治疗，其中引流组术后同期开展ENBD，支架组患者术后开展胆道支架置入术，对比两组患者腹痛评分、并发症发生情况及预后。 结果两组患者术后均未合并严重出血、穿孔或病死，结石完全清除率差异无统计学意义。与支架组相比，引流组术中胰腺管插管次数，术后4 h血淀粉酶水平、高淀粉酶血症、急性胰腺炎以及并发症总发生率更高，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05），术后24、48、72 h不同时点腹痛测评分值居更高水平（P<0.05）。 结论对于胆总管结石行ERCP治疗的患者，术后予以ENBD、胆道支架置入术的结石完全清除效果对比无明显差异，但胆道支架置入术更能降低术后并发症风险、缓解腹痛症状，患者获益更多。     

An appropriately sized soft polyester external stent prevents enlargement and neointimal hyperplasia of a saphenous vein graft in a canine model

Although the efficacy of external stents for vein grafts in coronary artery bypass grafting has been recognized, the ideal diameter and material of the stent remain controversial. We created a new external stent made of soft polyester mesh and performed an animal experiment using canines. Bilateral saphenous vein grafts were interposed in the bilateral common carotid artery of 10 beagles. The grafts in the left carotid artery were designated as the control group, and those in the right rolled by a soft polyester mesh external stent were designated as mesh group. Two of the 10 animals were sacrificed due to severe wound infection. The other eight were observed by echography for 6 months, and then grafts were extracted and thickness of the neointima of the grafts was measured. The control group showed 146% ± 26% postoperative enlargement of the internal diameter of the vein grafts after 6 months, whereas the mesh group showed only 115% ± 15% after the same duration (P = 0.0003). The median thickness of the neointima in the mesh group (170 µm [range: 150–190]) was significantly thinner than that in the control group (260 µm [range: 220–310], P < 0.0001). Some degree of correlation between the thickness of neointima and proportion of enlargement was noted (r = 0.518, P = 0.0024). A soft polyester mesh external stent for vein grafts successfully suppressed the enlargement of the vein grafts and thickness of the neointima after 6 months.     

Bypass Surgery or Stenting for Left Main Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Diabetes

Background

The randomized EXCEL (Evaluation of XIENCE versus Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization) trial reported a similar rate of the 3-year composite primary endpoint of death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke in patients with left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD) and site-assessed low or intermediate SYNTAX scores treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Whether these results are consistent in high-risk patients with diabetes, who have fared relatively better with CABG in most prior trials, is unknown.

Clinical Utility of the Modified Snare Technique for Percutaneous Antegrade Removal of Double J Ureteral Stents

Although a snare is the commonly used device for antegrade double J (DJ) stent removal, there are some cases in which DJ stent removal using only a snare is particularly difficult. In the present study, an unfavorable positioning of the proximal DJ stent tip and tip embeddedness were significantly associated with a simple snare technique failure; thus, present the modified snare technique to overcome the simple snare technique failure. By applying these 2 techniques together, we can increase the overall technical success rate up to 97% (196/202). The modified snare technique is safe and effective in cases of simple snare technique failure.     

Site of service influence on stent use for hemodialysis access interventions

ObjectiveWith rising health care spending in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in recent years attempted to use reimbursement rates to influence use of less expensive care sites for covered patients, such as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based laboratories (OBLs), in lieu of hospital service sites. It has been suggested that cost savings have not been realized because of more procedures being performed by physicians with ownership interests in nonhospital facilities. CMS adopted massive reimbursement changes for 2019 OBL and ASC-based procedures, which reduced dialysis access angioplasty reimbursement in the ASC setting by 50%, whereas facility reimbursement for stenting increased by 33% above prior levels. The clinical utility of adjunctive stenting in treating dialysis access stenosis remains controversial and highly discretionary. As a vascular group performing such procedures in both a hospital and nonhospital facility in which we have equity interest, we reviewed our use of stents in dialysis access procedures both in the hospital and in the ASC/OBL to determine whether site of service affected stent use.MethodsA retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database was performed from 2014 to 2018. All patients undergoing dialysis access angiography with angioplasty and adjunctive stent placement at our OBL (later ASC) and our primary hospital were included in the study.ResultsThere were 961 angioplasty or stent procedures performed for dialysis accesses between the two sites, 564 (58.7%) in the hospital setting and 397 (41.3%) at the OBL/ASC. There was a significant difference in race and age between the two sites, with younger, minority patients more frequently being treated in the hospital and older, white patients more likely to be treated in the ambulatory setting; 153 (27.1%) underwent adjunctive stent placement in the hospital and 127 (32.0%) in the ambulatory setting (P = .09).ConclusionsWhereas financial incentives have not yet had an appreciable influence on stent use for dialysis access within previous reimbursement paradigms, the dramatic changes recently adopted by CMS may well alter this dynamic and could lead to substantially higher overall costs without proven clinical advantage. Interventionalists may be incentivized to add stents when performing balloon angioplasty in ASCs. With high failure and reintervention rates and increasingly expensive adjuncts (drug-coated balloons and stents, covered stents), the cost implications of attempts to incentivize interventionalists toward a specific type of procedure or site of care are substantial, and unintended negative consequences are likely to occur.