The Impact of COVID-19 on Mortality and Clinical Characteristics in Hospitalized Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease in the Year 2020 in Germany.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic developed its full destructive capacity in 2020. This retrospective study aimed to examine the effects of COVID-19 on the mortality and the clinical characteristics in PAD patients with COVID-19 compared to PAD patients without COVID-19.

Methods And Results: Data derived from a German nationwide register of the year 2020 which encompassed all hospitalized patients with PAD ( = 173.

Muscle ultrasound shear wave elastography for detection of early onset lower limb ischemia in patients with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Background And Objectives: Limb ischemia or compartment syndrome, requiring surgery, are some of the frequent cannula-related complications in patients supported with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). The purpose of this exploratory study is to depict and evaluate the dynamic changes in the lower limb muscles with ultrasound shear wave elastography as marker for early lower limb ischemia.

Methods: Eleven patients with VA-ECMO after cardiac arrest were included in this study.

Weakness of lower limb muscle in symptomatic peripheral artery disease with media sclerosis detected by ultrasound shear wave elastography.

Symptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is difficult to non-invasively diagnose in the presence of calcified, media sclerotic arteries that are incompressible by blood pressure cuffs. Standard ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurements in these PAD patients are very often not helpful. Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a modern ultrasound technique to detect peripheral muscle stiffness changes i.

Bioresorbable zinc stent with ultra-thin center struts attenuates stent jail in porcine femoral artery bifurcations.

Introduction: An ultra-thin, fracture-resistant and bioresorbable stent may be advantageous for provisional stenting in vessel bifurcations, if catheter passage and side-branch post-dilatation is facilitated to prevent a 'stent jail' by struts obstructing the orifice of a major side branch.

Material And Methods: We studied a highly radiopaque, slowly bioresorbable zinc alloy stent characterized by a novel design of a radiopaque-marked region of ultra-thin struts in the center of the stent. The stent is characterized by an extended range flexibility and high fracture resistance.

Publisher Correction: Real-time magnetic resonance imaging - guided coronary intervention in a porcine model.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Gender-related differences in patients undergoing transcatheter mitral valve interventions in clinical practice: 1-year results from the German TRAMI registry.

Objectives: Information on gender-related differences in terms of baseline characteristics and clinical outcome of patients undergoing MitraClip® implantation in daily clinical practice have been studied in smaller populations previously. This study sought to additionally evaluate gender-related differences in a larger German real-world patient population.

Methods And Results: We analyzed data from the prospective and multicenter German TRAMI Registry.

Real-time magnetic resonance imaging - guided coronary intervention in a porcine model.

X-ray fluoroscopy is the gold standard for coronary diagnostics and intervention. Magnetic resonance imaging is a radiation-free alternative to x-ray with excellent soft tissue contrast in arbitrary slice orientation. Here, we assessed real-time MRI-guided coronary interventions from femoral access using newly designed MRI technologies.

Zn-alloy provides a novel platform for mechanically stable bioresorbable vascular stents.

Metallic Zn alloys have recently gained interest as potential candidates for developing platforms of bioresorbable vascular stents (BVS). Previous studies revealed that Mg alloys used for BVS can degrade too early, whereas PLLA materials may fail to provide effective scaffolding properties. Here we report on results of a new bioresorbable, metallic stent made from a Zn-Ag alloy studied in a porcine animal model of thrombosis and restenosis.

Shear Wave Elastography of Peripheral Muscle Weakness in Patients with Chronic Congestive Heart Failure.

Forty-five study participants (28 chronic heart failure [CHF] patients and 17 control participants) were prospectively enrolled in this study to investigate the clinical potential of ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) in identifying peripheral muscle weaknesses in chronic heart failure patients. Muscle stiffness in the gastrocnemius muscle during extension (stretch) and the lower arm flexor muscles during flexion was assessed via shear wave elastography, measuring the shear modulus (kPa) for the resting and contractile states in a range of 0-300 kPa. Resting kPa revealed no significant difference between CHF and CP, but exercise kPa for extension and flexion was significantly lower in CHF than CP.

Expression of the oxygen-sensitive transcription factor subunit HIF-1α in patients suffering from secondary Raynaud syndrome.

Anti-ischemic therapy remains a challenge due to the complexity of hypoxia response pathways. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 is a heterodimer transcription factor consisting of 2 subunits, HIF-1α and HIF-1β. Hypoxia-dependent activation of HIF-1α regulates cellular O homeostasis.

Urine proteome analysis as a discovery tool in patients with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Purpose: Early and accurate detection of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is an important clinical need. Based on the hypothesis that urinary peptides may hold information on DVT in conjunction with pulmonary embolism (PE), the study was aimed at identifying such peptide biomarkers using capillary electrophoresis coupled mass spectrometry.

Experimental Design: Patients with symptoms of unprovoked/idiopathic DVT and/or PE were examined by doppler-sonography or angio-computed tomography.

Triple Antithrombotic Therapy after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) in Patients with Indication for Oral Anticoagulation: Data from a Single Center Registry.

Antithrombotic therapy consisting of a dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) and oral anti-coagulation (OAC) with a vitamin k antagonist is often referred to as triple therapy. This combined anticoagulation is applied in patients undergoing coronary artery stent implantation while also having an indication for OAC. Triple therapy increases the risk for bleeding events compared to either DAPT or OAC alone and thereby might be associated with adverse outcomes.

Predictors for short-term outcomes of patients undergoing transcatheter mitral valve interventions: analysis of 778 prospective patients from the German TRAMI registry focusing on baseline renal function.

Aims: Factors predicting outcomes after MitraClip implantation are not well defined. We aimed to report the influence of baseline renal function on short-term outcomes of patients enrolled in the investigator-initiated German transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TRAMI) registry.

Methods And Results: Twenty participating German centres prospectively included 778 patients (mean age 76.

Drug-coated balloons--the importance of packing and dosing antiproliferative drugs.

Several balloon catheters coated with paclitaxel have been shown to reduce restenosis rates in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) revealing a relatively wide therapeutic window of effective doses ranging from 2 to 3 µg/mm(2) balloon surface area. Delivering lower antiproliferative drug doses to the vessel wall may not be inferior to higher drug doses provided that effective drug-excipient formulations have been chosen. Leaving non-flow limiting dissection in the SFA non-stented might be an option after use of drug-coated balloons.

Coronary artery treatment with paclitaxel-coated balloon using a BTHC excipient: clinical results of the international real-world DELUX registry.

Aims: Safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions using the Pantera Lux paclitaxel-coated balloon have been demonstrated in the PEPPER first-in-man trial. This prospective, multicentre, clinical registry aims to evaluate its safety and efficacy in an international real-world setting in a larger cohort of patients.

Methods And Results: Between April 2010 and April 2011, 1,064 patients were treated for predominantly diffuse and proliferative in-stent restenosis of bare metal stents (BMS-ISR) and drug-eluting stents (DES-ISR), or for de novo lesions.

A novel hollow and perforated flexible wire allows the safe and effective local application of thrombolytic therapy in a mouse model of deep vein thrombosis.

We tested the feasibility of local thrombolytic therapy via a novel hollow flexible and perforated wire in a mouse model of deep vein thrombosis. Inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombosis was induced by vessel wall exposure to ferric chloride after laparotomy in anesthetized C57Bl/6 mice. Thrombus formation was visualized by intravital microscopy of rhodamine-labeled platelets and leukocytes.

Treatment of functional mitral valve regurgitation with the permanent percutaneous transvenous mitral annuloplasty system: results of the multicenter international Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral Annuloplasty System to Reduce Mitral Valve Regurgitation in Patients with Heart Failure trial.

Objectives: PTOLEMY-2 was a prospective multicenter phase I single-arm feasibility trial to evaluate the second-generation permanent percutaneous transvenous mitral annuloplasty (PTMA) device in reducing functional mitral regurgitation (MR).

Background: Percutaneous MR reduction has been performed through a direct method of clipping and securing the mitral leaflets together or an indirect approach of reducing mitral annular dimension via the coronary sinus. The PTMA device is the only coronary sinus mitral repair device without a static fixation element.

Twelve-month results of a paclitaxel releasing balloon in patients presenting with in-stent restenosis First-in-Man (PEPPER) trial.

Background: Coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR) continues to be a therapeutic challenge especially after drug eluting stent (DES) implantation. We studied patients with ISR to investigate safety and efficacy of a novel drug coated balloon (DCB) incorporating paclitaxel into a microcrystalline structure by applying the inert excipient butyryltri-n-hexyl citrate (BTHC) in a prospective First-in-Man trial.

Methods And Materials: Eighty-one patients were enrolled at 9 European sites, thereof 43 (53.

Impact of chronic kidney disease on long-term clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting or bare-metal stents.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with adverse outcomes after coronary bare-metal stent (BMS) and drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, but it is unclear which stent type is associated with lower risk for morbidity and mortality in this population. Uniform treatment standards during coronary stent implantation and a median follow-up period of 2.8 years characterize the FReIburg STent (FRIST) registry, designed as a long-term outcome evaluation of a single tertiary referral cardiovascular center.

MitraClip therapy in daily clinical practice: initial results from the German transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TRAMI) registry.

Aims: A substantial percentage of patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) in need of mitral valve repair are currently considered not suitable for conventional surgery. In Germany, the largest cohort of patients studied to date has been treated using a percutaneous, catheter-based approach. We report the acute outcomes of patients enrolled in the investigator-initiated German transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TRAMI) registry.

Long-term follow-up after treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis with a paclitaxel-coated balloon catheter.

Objectives: This study presents long-term clinical follow-up, including binary restenosis rate and major adverse cardiovascular events, of the PACCOCATH-ISR (Treatment of In-Stent Restenosis by Paclitaxel Coated PTCA Balloons) I and II trial.

Background: The PACCOCATH-ISR trial was a first-in-human study with a drug-coated balloon catheter and the first study for the treatment of coronary ISR with a drug-coated balloon. So, far no long-term follow-up data have been presented.

Description of Pantera Lux paclitaxel-releasing balloon and preliminary quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) results at six months in patients with coronary in-stent restenosis.

Aims: Drug-eluting balloons (DEB) have recently emerged as a valuable treatment option for patients with coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR). However, little information exists on results of DEB therapy of in-stent restenosis from drug-eluting stents (DES).

Methods And Results: The Pantera Lux balloon catheter, a novel DEB releasing paclitaxel with a BTHC matrix was studied in a prospective, multicentre first-in-man trial of patients with ISR either from bare metal stents (BMS) or drug-eluting stents (DES).

Final results of a phase IIa, randomised, open-label trial to evaluate the percutaneous intramyocardial transplantation of autologous skeletal myoblasts in congestive heart failure patients: the SEISMIC trial.

Aims: The SEISMIC study was an open-label, prospective, randomised study to assess the safety and feasibility of percutaneous myoblast implantation in heart failure patients with implanted cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD).

Methods And Results: Patients were randomised 2:1 to autologous skeletal myoblast therapy vs. optimal medical treatment.