Incidence of stent thrombosis and adverse cardiac events 5 years after sirolimus stent implantation in clinical practice.

Background: The long-term incidence of stent thrombosis (ST) and complications after sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) implantation is still a matter of debate.

Method: We conducted a systematic follow-up on the day of their 5-year SES implantation anniversary, in a series of consecutive real-world patients treated with a SES. The use of SES implantation was not restricted to "on-label" indications, and target lesions included in-stent restenosis, vein graft, left main stem locations, bifurcations, and long lesions.

[The pivotal role of the pathologist in transplantation].

The management of rejection has recently become more complex, in particular since the identification of antibody-mediated rejection in addition to the full-established pictures of cellular rejection. The pathologist who reads graft biopsies must solve these problems in order to arrive at a clear histopathological diagnosis. The diagnosis will then have to be discussed in a multidisciplinary approach with the clinical persons, in order to decide upon the optimal treatment approach.

Three-year follow-up of the first prospective randomized comparison between paclitaxel and sirolimus stents: the TAXi-LATE trial.

Goal: Analysis of the 3-year outcome of the original population of the TAXi trial which compared the efficacy of the paclitaxel (PES) and the sirolimus (SES) stents in a randomized "real world" investigation.

History: The widespread use of drug-eluting stents strongly modified the world of interventional cardiology. The TAXi trial was a randomized comparison between PES and SES and showed similar efficacy between the two prostheses.

CCR5, RANTES and CX3CR1 polymorphisms: possible genetic links with acute heart rejection.

Background: The inflammation response is modulated by the elaborated chemokine-chemokine receptor system, which also plays an important role in the development of acute rejection (AR). In this study, we hypothesized that functional genetic variants of some of these modulatory proteins might influence the outcome of AR.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis of a cohort of heart transplanted patients (n=158), we examined eight polymorphisms in four genes implicated in this inflammatory process: RANTES, CCR5, CCR2 and CX3CR1.

A prospective randomized comparison between paclitaxel and sirolimus stents in the real world of interventional cardiology: the TAXi trial.

Objectives: We conducted this trial to assess whether a sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) produces similar results to a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) when used in the real world of interventional cardiology.

Background: Several drug-eluting stents have been shown to exert a beneficial effect on restenosis when used in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Any potential superiority of one drug over the others, however, is still unknown.

Use of sirolimus-eluting coronary stents in routine clinical practice.

Restenosis has long remained the major limitation of intracoronary stenting, but several randomized trials have recently shown that the use of drug-eluting stents appear to reduce markedly the risk of recurrence following treatment of de novo lesions. To evaluate whether the results of randomized trials can be generalized to routine clinical practice, all patients receiving at least one sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in two Swiss hospitals were entered into a prospective registry. Only target vessels with a reference diameter > 3.

Determinants of protracted cytomegalovirus infection in solid-organ transplant patients.

Background: Recurrent infection frequently follows the response to the initial treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients. The objective of this study was to describe the course of CMV infection in SOT patients and to identify factors that would predict protracted CMV infection with recurrences.

Methods: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for CMV DNA in leukocytes and in plasma were used to assess viral load changes retrospectively in consecutive SOT patients, whose CMV infection episodes had been attended therapeutically or preemptively using quantitative blood culture.

Repeated intracoronary beta radiation for recurrent in-stent restenosis.

More than 70% of percutaneous coronary interventions are followed by a stent implantation. In-stent restenosis still occurs in 20-30% of patients and remains a therapeutic challenge. At present only vascular brachytherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment option.