Clinical outcomes of patients treated with Nobori biolimus-eluting stent: Meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Backgrounds: The Nobori is a new-generation, biodegradable-polymer coated, biolimus-eluting stent (BES) that has recently been investigated in several randomized trials with inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of Nobori BES versus other drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized trials investigating Nobori BES versus other DES.

Safety and efficacy of the Yukon Choice Flex sirolimus-eluting coronary stent in an all-comers population cohort.

Aims: The use of biodegradable-polymer drug-eluting stents has been shown to provide favorable results when compared with durable polymer drug-eluting stents and long-term follow up data have recently shown significant reductions in terms of very late stent thrombosis. Aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy profile of a novel biodegradable polymer DES, the Yukon Choice Flex sirolimus-eluting stent.

Methods: We report here the one-year clinical outcomes associated with the use of the Yukon Choice Flex sirolimus-eluting stent in an all-comers patient population.

Sharing social touch in the primary somatosensory cortex.

Touch has an emotional and communicative meaning, and it plays a crucial role in social perception and empathy. The intuitive link between others' somatosensations and our sense of touch becomes ostensible in mirror-touch synesthesia, a condition in which the view of a touch on another person's body elicits conscious tactile sensations on the observer's own body [1]. This peculiar phenomenon may implicate normal social mirror mechanisms [2].

Rationale and design of a randomised clinical trial comparing vascular closure device and manual compression to achieve haemostasis after diagnostic coronary angiography: the Instrumental Sealing of ARterial puncture site - CLOSURE device versus manual compression (ISAR-CLOSURE) trial.

Aims: Vascular closure devices (VCD) have been introduced into clinical practice with the aim of increasing the procedural efficiency and clinical safety of coronary angiography. However, clinical studies comparing VCD and manual compression have yielded mixed results, and large randomised clinical trials comparing the two strategies are missing. Moreover, comparative efficacy studies between different VCD in routine clinical use are lacking.

The relationship between the Spine Deformity Index, biochemical parameters of bone metabolism and vascular calcifications: results from the Epidemiological VERtebral FRACtures iTalian Study (EVERFRACT) in dialysis patients.

Background: The Spine Deformity Index (SDI) is a measure of vertebral fractures (VFs), providing information on both their number and severity.

Methods: We evaluated the relationships between SDI and clinical, biochemical and arterial calcification parameters in 387 hemodialysis (HD) patients. VFs, assessed by quantitative vertebral morphometry, and vascular calcifications were identified in the same lateral spinal X-ray.

Weight of the bleeding impact on early and late mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention.

The association between bleeding and timing of mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains poorly investigated. We aimed to investigate the impact of bleeding on early (30-day) and late (30-day to 1 year) mortality after PCI. The study includes 14,180 patients.

Neuromodulation of parietal and motor activity affects motor planning and execution.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive tool, which effectively modulates behavior, and related brain activity. When applied to the primary motor cortex (M1), tDCS affects motor function, enhancing or decreasing performance of both healthy participants and brain-damaged patients. Beyond M1, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is also crucially involved in controlling and guiding movement.

Beside the point: Mothers' head nodding and shaking gestures during parent-child play.

Understanding the context for children's social learning and language acquisition requires consideration of caregivers' multi-modal (speech, gesture) messages. Though young children can interpret both manual and head gestures, little research has examined the communicative input that children receive via parents' head gestures. We longitudinally examined the frequency and communicative functions of mothers' head nodding and head shaking gestures during laboratory play sessions for 32 mother-child dyads, when the children were 14, 20, and 30 months of age.

Fractures in chronic kidney disease: neglected, common, and associated with sickness and death.

Bone fractures in dialysis patients have been poorly studied in the past. Tentori et al. partially fill this gap, assessing the incidence of post-fracture morbidity and mortality in patients of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS).

Safety and efficacy of different stent types for the endovascular therapy of extracranial vertebral artery disease.

Objectives: This study aims to determine safety and efficacy of different stent types for extracranial vertebral artery stenting (EVAS) at a single-center institution.

Background: Although endovascular revascularization techniques are well established for a variety of arterial vessel territories, its role within the vertebrobasilar system is less well defined.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all EVAS procedures performed at our institution between 1997 and 2012.

Drug-eluting stents for revascularization of infrapopliteal arteries: updated meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Objectives: This study sought to undertake an updated meta-analysis of randomized trials investigating the outcomes of percutaneous revascularization with primary drug-eluting stenting in patients with atherosclerotic disease of infrapopliteal arteries.

Background: In atherosclerotic disease of infrapopliteal arteries, drug-eluting stents (DESs) improve patency rates compared with plain balloon angioplasty or bare-metal stents (BMSs). However, the clinical impact of DES placement in this vascular territory still remains uncertain.

Risk of stent thrombosis among bare-metal stents, first-generation drug-eluting stents, and second-generation drug-eluting stents: results from a registry of 18,334 patients.

Objectives: This study sought to compare the risk of stent thrombosis among patients treated with bare-metal stents (BMS), first-generation drug-eluting stents (G1-DES), and second-generation drug-eluting stents (G2-DES) for a period of 3 years.

Background: In patients undergoing coronary stenting, there is a scarcity of long-term follow-up data on cohorts large enough to compare rates of stent thrombosis across the stent generations.

Methods: A total of 18,334 patients undergoing successful coronary stent implantation from 1998 to 2011 at 2 centers in Munich, Germany, were included in this study.

Incidence and predictors of restenosis after coronary stenting in 10 004 patients with surveillance angiography.

Objective: Systematic investigation of restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare metal stents (BMS) or first or second generation drug eluting stents (DES) in large scale, broadly inclusive patient populations undergoing follow-up angiography represents a gap in our scientific knowledge. We investigated the incidence of angiographically proven restenosis and its predictors in patients undergoing PCI with stents.

Methods: All patients undergoing successful implantation of coronary stents for de novo lesions from 1998 to 2009 and follow-up angiography at 6-8 months at two centres in Munich, Germany were eligible for inclusion.

Bare metal stents, durable polymer drug eluting stents, and biodegradable polymer drug eluting stents for coronary artery disease: mixed treatment comparison meta-analysis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of biodegradable polymer drug eluting stents with those of bare metal stents and durable polymer drug eluting stents.

Design: Mixed treatment comparison meta-analysis of 258,544 patient years of follow-up from randomized trials.

Data Sources And Study Selection: PubMed, Embase, and Central were searched for randomized trials comparing any of the Food and Drug Administration approved durable polymer drug eluting stents (sirolimus eluting, paclitaxel eluting, cobalt chromium everolimus eluting, platinum chromium everolimus eluting, zotarolimus eluting-Endeavor, and zotarolimus eluting-Resolute) or biodegradable polymer drug eluting stents, with each other or against bare metal stents.

A gender-specific analysis of association between hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Gender-related differences in the association between hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular events remain poorly understood. The objective of this study was to assess gender-related differences in the association between hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods And Results: This study included 13,273 patients with CAD.

Incidence and impact on prognosis of bleeding during percutaneous coronary interventions in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Limited information exists on the prognostic impact of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the impact of bleeding after PCI on the outcome of these patients.

Methods: The study included 2,934 patients with estimated creatinine clearance <60 ml/min.

The sound-induced phosphene illusion.

Crossmodal illusions clearly show how perception, rather than being a modular and self-contained function, can be dramatically altered by interactions between senses. Here, we provide evidence for a novel crossmodal "physiological" illusion, showing that sounds can boost visual cortical responses in such a way to give rise to a striking illusory visual percept. In healthy participants, a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) delivered to the occipital cortex evoked a visual percept, i.

Incidence and prognostic value of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients older than 75 years of age.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the impact of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on the outcome of patients >75 years of age.

Background: Limited information exists on the impact of post-PCI bleeding on the outcome in elderly patients.

Methods: This study included 3,255 patients >75 years of age.

Bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention in women and men matched for age, body mass index, and type of antithrombotic therapy.

Background: Factors underlying the increased risk of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in women compared with men remain incompletely understood.

Methods: The study included 3,351 women and 3,351 men matched for age, body mass index, and type of antithrombotic therapy. Bleeding within the 30 days after PCI was defined using the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria.

Zotarolimus- versus everolimus-eluting stents for unprotected left main coronary artery disease.

Objectives: This study sought to compare the safety and efficacy of the zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) and the everolimus-eluting stent (EES) for treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery (uLMCA) disease.

Background: The second-generation ZES and EES have reduced the risk of restenosis in large patient cohorts. However, their comparative performance in uLMCA lesions is not known.

C-reactive protein and prognosis in women and men with coronary artery disease after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Sex-based differences in the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are incompletely investigated. We investigated whether there are gender differences in the association between CRP and outcome in patients with CAD after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: This study included 13,170 consecutive patients with CAD: 10,098 men and 3072 women.

Prevalence of vertebral fractures, vascular calcifications, and mortality in warfarin treated hemodialysis patients.

Warfarin inhibits vitamin-K dependent proteins involved in bone mineralization and the prevention of vascular calcification (bone Gla protein BGP, matrix Gla protein MGP). In this multicenter, cross-sectional study with 3-year follow-up, data from 387 patients on hemodialysis for ≥1 year at 18 dialysis units were analyzed. Patients on warfarin treatment for > 1 year (11.

Outcomes with various drug-eluting or bare metal stents in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction: a mixed treatment comparison analysis of trial level data from 34 068 patient-years of follow-up from randomized trials.

Background: The efficacy and safety of drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is controversial. Consequently, DES implantation has a class IIa indication in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology STEMI guidelines.

Methods And Results: PUBMED, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched for randomized clinical trials, until March 2013, comparing any of the 5 Food and Drug Administration-approved durable stent and polymer DES (sirolimus eluting stent, paclitaxel eluting stent, everolimus-eluting stent [EES], zotarolimus-eluting stent, and zotarolimus-eluting stent resolute), against each other or bare metal stents (BMS), and enrolling ≥ 50 patients with STEMI.

Paclitaxel-coated balloon or primary bare nitinol stent for revascularization of femoropopliteal artery: a meta-analysis of randomized trials versus uncoated balloon and an adjusted indirect comparison.

Background: The performance of paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB) or primary bare nitinol stent (BNS) versus uncoated balloon angioplasty (UCB) for femoropopliteal artery disease and the relative efficacy and safety of PCB versus BNS are still debated.

Methods: A meta-analysis of trials in which patients were randomly assigned to PCB versus UCB or BNS versus UCB was performed, as well as an indirect comparison of PCB versus BNS, with UCB common comparator. The primary endpoint was target lesion revascularization (TLR); secondary endpoints were restenosis, death and amputation.