Long-term safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents: two-year results of the REAL (REgistro AngiopLastiche dell'Emilia Romagna) multicenter registry.

Background: The long-term safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DES) have been questioned recently.

Methods And Results: Between July 2002 and June 2005, 10,629 patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention with either DES (n=3064) or bare-metal stents (BMS, n=7565) were enrolled in a prospective registry comprising 13 hospitals. We assessed the cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiac events (death, acute myocardial infarction, and target-vessel revascularization) and angiographic stent thrombosis during 2-year follow-up.

Clinical outcomes for sirolimus-eluting stents and polymer-coated paclitaxel-eluting stents in daily practice: results from a large multicenter registry.

Objectives: We compared the clinical outcome of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) in a real-world scenario.

Background: In selected patients, SES has been associated with lower late luminal loss than PES. Whether this emerging biological difference could translate into different clinical efficacy in daily practice is presently unknown.

Paradoxical emboli in children and young adults: role of atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale device closure.

Objective: To describe a multicenter experience with patent foramen ovale (PFO) and atrial septal defect (ASD) device closure for presumed paradoxical emboli in children and young adults (<35 years old).

Patients And Methods: Medical records were reviewed of patients who had device closure of an ASD or PFO, who were younger than 35 years, and who had a history of presumed paradoxical embolus between January 1999 and August 2005 at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, University of Parma, Parma, Italy, and Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill.

Results: Forty-five patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria.

Safety and long-term efficacy of sirolimus eluting stent in ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction: the REAL (Registro REgionale AngiopLastiche Emilia-Romagna) registry.

Background: Limited data are available for sirolimus eluting stent (SES) implantation in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Aim: To confirm the safety and effectiveness of SES in patients with STEMI in a real-world scenario (multicentric registry).

Methods: From July 2002 to June 2004, clinical and angiographic data of 1617 patients with STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been collected.

Comparison of effectiveness of sirolimus-eluting stents versus bare metal stents for percutaneous coronary intervention in patients at high risk for coronary restenosis or clinical adverse events.

We evaluated the clinical effect of selective use of sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) in real-world, high-risk patients. A total of 4,237 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (SES, n = 872, bare metal stents [BMSs], n = 3,365) was enrolled in a prospective regional survey. A prespecified high-risk subset of patients was selected on the basis of clinical and angiographic characteristics.

Effectiveness of treatment of in-stent restenosis with an 8-French compatible atherectomy catheter.

The study reports the results of directional atherectomy with an 8Fr guiding catheter-compatible atherectomy catheter in a series of 31 in-stent restenotic lesions. This preliminary experience indicates a favorable safety profile, with events limited to non-Q-wave myocardial infarction occurring in 3.6% of patients.