Experience from a regional percutaneous coronary intervention center: Aiming to assess and improve quality of care.

Introduction And Objectives: Ischemic heart disease is the single most common cause of death in Europe. Mortality in patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with many factors, one of which is the time delay to treatment. The purpose of this work is to analyze the coronary pathway in our region in terms of timing, taking into consideration the place of first medical contact (FMC).

Drug Coated Balloon-Only Strategy in De Novo Lesions of Large Coronary Vessels.

Objectives: We analyzed the efficacy of drug coated balloons (DCB) as a stand-alone-therapy in de novo lesions of large coronary arteries. DCBs seem to be an attractive alternative for the stent-free interventional treatment of de novo coronary artery disease (CAD). However, data regarding a DCB-only approach in de novo CAD are currently limited to vessels of small caliber.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: Still a lot to learn.

Non-atherosclerotic spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an uncommon but probably underdetected pathological substrate for acute coronary syndrome. Clinical associations have been noted, like female gender and young age, but its pathophysiology is not yet fully understood. In this report we describe the case of a 50-year-old woman, without cardiovascular risk factors presenting with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, in whom SCAD was diagnosed.

Spontaneous Coronary Dissection: "Live Flash" Optical Coherence Tomography Guided Angioplasty.

Optical Coherence tomography (OCT) is a light-based imaging modality which shows tremendous potential in the setting of coronary imaging. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an infrequent cause of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The diagnosis of SCAD is made mainly with invasive coronary angiography, although adjunctive imaging modalities such as computed tomography angiography, IVUS, and OCT may increase the diagnostic yield.

Multivessel approach in ST-elevation myocardial infarction: impact on in-hospital morbidity and mortality.

Introduction: Multivessel disease in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with a worse prognosis. A multivessel approach at the time of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the subject of debate.

Objective: To assess the impact of a multivessel approach on in-hospital morbidity and mortality in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI.

Non-cardiac comorbidities in the very elderly with acute myocardial infarction: prevalence and influence on management and in-hospital mortality.

Introduction: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the very elderly is common and is associated with increased mortality. Despite this, the majority of such patients do not receive the most effective cardiovascular therapies. The presence of non-cardiac comorbidities constitutes an additional challenge to the management of AMI in very elderly patients.

[Troponins can fool].

The development of troponins dramatically changed the diagnosis of cardiac injury. Cardiac troponins are the most sensitive and specific biochemical markers of myocardial damage. In 2000.

[Pheocromocytoma with negative MIBG].

Pheochomocytomas are catecholamine-releasing tumors derived from chromaffin cells. These kind of tumors occur in less than 1% of the patients evaluated for hypertension. The authors present a case of pheochomocytoma difficult to localize because MIBG scintigraphy was negative and elaborate a review about that subject.