Early recruitment of coronary collateral circulation: impact in late presentation nonreperfused acute coronary occlusion.

Background: Debate still remains on whether the presence of early recruited collateral circulation (ERCC) in the setting of an acute coronary occlusion (ACO) has a prognosis benefit. Some previous reports have shown lower mortality and morbidity rates in well-collateralized patients compared with those with poorly recruited collateral circulation (PCC), but others have not. In the primary angioplasty era, the role of collateral circulation in these studies may have been influenced by the effect of early reperfusion.

Percutaneous coronary intervention for treating de-novo lesions in small coronary vessels: initial experience with the Essential paclitaxel-coated balloon.

Background: Paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB) coronary angioplasty is an alternative treatment for de-novo coronary lesions in small vessels. This study with the new Essential PCB aimed to evaluate early and mid-term clinical outcomes following angioplasty with the Essential PCB in the treatment of de-novo lesions in small vessels.

Patients And Methods: We included all patients who underwent PCB angioplasty for treating de-novo coronary lesions in small vessels (reference diameter <2.

Invasive assessment of coronary flow reserve impairment in severe aortic stenosis and ecochadiographic correlations.

Objectives And Background: Patients with aortic stenosis (AS) may have impaired coronary flow reserve (CFR) despite angiographically normal coronary arteries. This is the first report of invasive thermodilution-derived CFR and IMR in patients with AS and their associations with echocardiographic parameters for AS assessment.

Methods: Thirty-six consecutive severe AS patients and ten patients without AS underwent prospectively cardiac catheterization and coronary physiological parameters were determined in the left anterior descending (LAD).

Invasive assessment of coronary microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: the index of microvascular resistance.

We present a review of microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and an interesting case of a symptomatic familial HCM patient with inducible ischemia by single photon emission computed tomography. Coronary angiography revealed normal epicardial arteries. Pressure wire measurements of fractional flow reserve (FFR), coronary flow reserve (CFR) and index of microvascular resistance (IMR) demonstrated a significant microcirculatory dysfunction.