Demographic and clinical characteristics of pulmonary arterial hypertension caused by schistosomiasis are indistinguishable from other etiologies.

Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious pulmonary circulation disease caused by several etiologies, including schistosomiasis. The present study retrospectively evaluated the clinical and hemodynamic characteristics of patients with schistosomal PAH (PAH-Sch) compared to those of non-Sch PAH patients (non-Sch PAH).

Methods: Patients treated at the Pronto-Socorro Cardiológico de Pernambuco and diagnosed by right cardiac catheterization were divided into PAH-Sch and non-Sch PAH groups.

Predictors of coronary stent thrombosis: a case-control study.

To verify the frequency and predictors associated with stent thrombosis (ST) in a developing country. Observational, case-control study including 2535 consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in two reference hospitals in Brazil, from October 2013 to December 2015. ST patients were matched to controls in a 1:3 ratio for gender, age, procedure indication, and performing hospital.

First results of the Brazilian Registry of Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure.

Background: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is an effective alternative to oral anticoagulation (OA) for the prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).

Objective: To present the immediate results and late outcomes of patients submitted to LAAC and included in the Brazilian Registry of Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure.

Methods: 91 patients with NVAF, high stroke risk (CHA2DS2VASc score = 4.

Miniaturized self-expanding drug-eluting stent in small coronary arteries: late effectiveness.

Background: Small vessels represent a risk factor for restenosis in percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCA). The Sparrow® self-expanding drug-eluting stent, which has a lower profile than the current systems, has never been tested in this scenario.

Objectives: To evaluate the late effectiveness of the Sparrow® drug-eluting stent, regarding in-stent late lumen loss (LLL).

Intravascular ultrasound comparison of small coronary lesions between novel guidewire-based sirolimus-eluting stents and conventional sirolimus-eluting stents.

Background: The Sparrow stent system (Biosensors International) consists of a self-expanding, ultra-thin nitinol stent mounted within a 0.014″ guidewire designed for small or tortuous coronary lesions. We compared the intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) findings between the novel self-expanding sirolimus-eluting stent (Sparrow-SES) and a conventional balloon-expandable sirolimus-eluting stent (Cypher-SES) in patients with small coronary disease.