Publications by authors named "Frank M Baer"

Background: Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are often pretreated with unfractionated heparin (UFH) before a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). UFH pretreatment is intended to lessen the thrombotic burden, but there have been conflicting study findings on its safety and efficacy. We assessed the risks and benefits of UFH pretreatment with a retrospective analysis of registry data from the STEMI network of a German metropolitan region.

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Background: Because a delayed arterial healing response after drug-eluting stent implantation has raised concerns about safety in diabetic patients, long-term effects of treatment with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES), as compared with bare-metal stent (BMS), have to be established. The aim of the 5-year follow-up of the randomized, controlled, open-label multicenter SCORPIUS study was to assess long-term safety and efficacy of the CYPHER (Cordis, Johnson & Johnson, Bridgewater, NJ) SES in percutaneous coronary intervention of diabetic patients.

Methods: A total of 190 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomized to receive either a SES (n = 95) or a BMS (n = 95).

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Thrombosis of the superior vena cava leads to obstruction of venous outflow of the head and upper extremities and causes severe clinical symptoms. The management of SVC syndrome depends on aetiology and acuity at clinical presentation and ranges from conservative medical treatment to bypass surgery. Endovascular treatment can provide rapid relief of symptoms and substantial clinical improvement independent of aetiology.

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Background: Transapical aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is increasingly being applied in conventionally inoperable patients with aortic stenosis. The utility of the cardiac marker NT-pro-BNP has yet not been assessed in this setting.

Methods: NT-pro-BNP was assessed preoperatively, postoperatively (day 1, 3, 5 and 8) and 2 months after the intervention in 31 consecutive patients (13 men, 18 women; median age 84) undergoing TAVR and the association with baseline characteristics and outcome was analysed.

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Background: Cobalt chromium coronary stents are increasingly being used in percutaneous coronary interventions. There are, however, no reliable data about the characteristics of unfolding and visibility of this stent alloy in vivo. The aim of this study is to compare cobalt chromium coronary stents with conventional stainless steel stents using intracoronary ultrasound.

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Identification of akinetic but viable myocardium is important for the selection of patients for coronary revascularization. In order to assess predictive values of end-diastolic wall thickness and dobutamine induced wall thickening obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake assessed by positron emission tomography (F-18-FDG-PET), these parameters were compared to recovery of left ventricular function after successful revascularization. Forty patients with chronic myocardial infarction and regional a- or dyskinesia by ventriculography underwent rest- and dobutamine-MRI studies (10 microg dobutamine/kg body weight/min) and F-18-FDG-PET.

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Background: Although the use of premounted stents on a delivery balloon has almost completely eliminated the initially used hand-crimping procedure, no data are available that prove the superiority of one or the other approach on a randomized basis. Therefore, this study was designed to examine whether the use of premounted stents is comparable with the hand-crimping procedure.

Methods: A total of 123 patients (64 treated with unmounted stents, 59 treated with premounted stents) were examined in a multicenter, randomized, prospective study.

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