AIMS Following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for revascularisation of chronic total occlusions (CTO) patients are at increased risk for stent thrombosis (ST). Delayed drug-eluting stent (DES) coverage has previously been shown to be related to ST. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), we tested the hypothesis that CTO-PCI is associated with delayed DES coverage compared to non-C...

BACKGROUND In this study, we sought to characterize the outcomes after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with a history of remote (≥14 days), and recent (<14 days), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with PCI within 5 years of CABG were identified among 12 591 primary isolated CABG reported in the mandatory Massachusetts Adult Card...

BACKGROUND Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is at present the most effective procedure for reducing the mortality rate of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, there is a great difference between Japan and other countries in the rate of primary PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS Registration period, number of patients with AMI, rates of primary PCI or thrombolysis an...

BACKGROUND Platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa antagonists prevent the composite end point of death or myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with acute coronary syndromes. There is uncertainty about whether this effect is confined to patients who have percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) and whether PCIs further prevent death or MI in patients already treated with GP IIb/IIIa antagonists...

Protein C Inhibitor (PCI) is a secreted serine protease inhibitor, belonging to the family of serpins. In addition to activated protein C PCI inactivates several other proteases of the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems, suggesting a regulatory role in hemostasis. Glycosaminoglycans and certain negatively charged phospholipids, like phosphatidylserine, bind to PCI and modulate its activity. P...

AIMS We evaluated the effect of direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) in patients undergoing early percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), using the DTI Trialists' Collaboration database of 35,970 patients from 11 randomized trials of DTIs vs. heparin. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis with PCI as a time-dependent covariate to assess the independent...

AIMS To compare the effect of timing of intervention in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus non-PCI centres. METHODS AND RESULTS A post-hoc sub-analysis was performed of the ELISA III trial, a randomised multicentre trial investigating outcome of early (< 12 h) versus late (> 48 h) angiography and revascularisati...

Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is an inflammatory marker thought to be more specific to cardiovascular inflammation than C-reactive protein (CRP). Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of PTX3 in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) after drug eluting stent (DES) implantation. Plasma PTX3 levels were measured before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and at 24 h post-PCI in 596 con...

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI)may be performedduring the same session asdiagnostic catheterization (ad hoc PCI) or at a later session (delayed PCI). Randomized trials comparing these strategies have not been performed; cohort studies have not identified consistent differences in safety or efficacy between the two strategies. Ad hoc PCI has increased in prevalence over the past decade...

OBJECTIVE Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is the treatment of choice for ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) if performed within 90 minutes from first medical contact. However, primary PCI is only available for less than 25% of patients with STEMI. Early PCI or Pharmaco-invasive strategy has evolved from facilitated PCI but with more delayed timing from thromboly...