Publications by authors named "Hellig F"
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global TAVR Activity: The COVID-TAVI Study.
JACC Cardiovasc Interv
February 2024
Article Synopsis
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant treatment delays for patients needing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), with a marked decrease in procedure volumes during the first two waves of the pandemic.
- The study analyzed TAVR case data from 130 centers in 61 countries, finding a 15% drop in cases during the first wave and 7% in the second, particularly affecting regions like Africa, Central-South America, and Asia.
- Factors such as hospital type (private vs public), urban vs rural location, low procedure volumes, a country's socioeconomic status, and stringent public health measures contributed to these reductions, highlighting the need for improved public health policies for future health crises.
Objectives: This study explores the safety and efficacy of thin strut MeRes100 sirolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BRS) in patients with de novo coronary artery lesions.
Background: In interventional cardiology, the emergence of BRS technology is catalyzing the next paradigm shift.
Methods: The MeRes-1 Extend was a multicenter, prospective, single-arm, open-label study enrolling 64 patients in Spain, Macedonia, Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Aim: The aim was to assess the safety and efficacy of rotational atherectomy followed by drug-eluting balloon (DEB) in patients with a high risk of bleeding.
Methods: A retrospective review was carried out of hospital records of consecutive patients who underwent the hybrid procedure.
Results: The average age of the 23 patients was 74 years.
Background: The PAST-PERF registry was initiated to collect data on the PK Papyrus covered stent, a second-generation device for the treatment of coronary artery perforations with enhanced mechanical properties, but with limited available data.
Methods: Patients treated for coronary artery perforations with the PK Papyrus stent at 14 international centers were retrospectively identified. The primary effectiveness outcome was successful sealing of the perforation.
Background: Mitral valve-in-valve (ViV) and valve-in-ring (ViR) are alternatives to surgical reoperation in patients with recurrent mitral valve failure after previous surgical valve repair or replacement. Our aim was to perform a large-scale analysis examining midterm outcomes after mitral ViV and ViR.
Methods: Patients undergoing mitral ViV and ViR were enrolled in the Valve-in-Valve International Data Registry.
Objectives: This study sought to evaluate sex differences in procedural characteristics and clinical outcomes of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR)- and fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided revascularization strategies.
Background: An iFR-guided strategy has shown a lower revascularization rate than an FFR-guided strategy, without differences in clinical outcomes.
Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate stenosis to guide Revascularization) study, in which 601 women and 1,891 men were randomized to iFR- or FFR-guided strategy.
Importance: Invasive physiologic indices such as fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) are used in clinical practice. Nevertheless, comparative prognostic outcomes of iFR-guided and FFR-guided treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes have not yet been fully investigated.
Objective: To compare 1-year clinical outcomes of iFR-guided or FFR-guided treatment in patients with and without diabetes in the Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularization (DEFINE-FLAIR) trial.
Objectives: A large comprehensive analysis of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was performed for failed stentless bioprostheses.
Background: Valve-in-valve (ViV) transcatheter aortic replacement (TAVR) is an alternative to redo surgery for patients with a failing aortic bioprosthesis.
Methods: Unadjusted outcome data were collected from the VIVID (Valve-in-Valve International Data) registry between 2007 and 2016 from a total of 1,598 aortic ViV procedures (291 stentless, 1,307 stented bioprostheses).
Background: Physicians are not always comfortable deferring treatment of a stenosis in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery because of the perception that there is a high risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). The authors describe, using the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) trial, MACE rates when LAD lesions are deferred, guided by physiological assessment using fractional flow reserve (FFR) or the instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR).
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish the safety of deferring treatment in the LAD using FFR or iFR within the DEFINE-FLAIR trial.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary revascularization on the basis of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) or fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements in stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
Background: Assessment of coronary stenosis severity with pressure guidewires is recommended to determine the need for myocardial revascularization.
Methods: The safety of deferral of coronary revascularization in the pooled per-protocol population (n = 4,486) of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) and iFR-SWEDEHEART (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio Versus Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris or Acute Coronary Syndrome) randomized clinical trials was investigated.
Background: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is commonly used to deploy new bioprosthetic valves inside degenerated surgically implanted aortic valves in high risk patients. The three scoring systems used to assess risk of postprocedural mortality are: Logistic EuroSCORE (LES), EuroSCORE II (ES II), and Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).
Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the accuracy of LES, ES II, and STS in estimating all-cause mortality after transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve (ViV) implantations, which was not assessed before.
Objectives: The authors sought to evaluate the accuracy of instantaneous wave-Free Ratio (iFR) pullback measurements to predict post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) physiological outcomes, and to quantify how often iFR pullback alters PCI strategy in real-world clinical settings.
Background: In tandem and diffuse disease, offline analysis of continuous iFR pullback measurement has previously been demonstrated to accurately predict the physiological outcome of revascularization. However, the accuracy of the online analysis approach (iFR pullback) remains untested.
As bifurcation PCI can often be resource-demanding due to the use of multiple guidewires, balloons and stents, different technical options are sometimes being explored, in different local settings, to meet the need of optimally treating a patient with a bifurcation lesion, while being confronted with limited material resources. Therefore, it seems important to keep a proper balance between what is recognised as the contemporary state of the art, and what is known to be potentially harmful and to be discouraged. Ultimately, the resource-tailored approach to bifurcation PCI may be characterised by the notion of minimum technical requirements for each step of a successful procedure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Coronary revascularization guided by fractional flow reserve (FFR) is associated with better patient outcomes after the procedure than revascularization guided by angiography alone. It is unknown whether the instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), an alternative measure that does not require the administration of adenosine, will offer benefits similar to those of FFR.
Methods: We randomly assigned 2492 patients with coronary artery disease, in a 1:1 ratio, to undergo either iFR-guided or FFR-guided coronary revascularization.
Patient history, physical examination, 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac biomarkers are key components of an effective chest pain assessment. The first priority is excluding serious chest pain syndromes, namely acute coronary syndromes (ACSs), aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, cardiac tamponade and tension pneumothorax. On history, the mnemonic SOCRATES (Site Onset Character Radiation Association Time Exacerbating/relieving factor and Severity) helps differentiate cardiac from non-cardiac pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To evaluate the first experience of real-time instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) measurement by clinicians.
Background: The iFR is a new vasodilator-free index of coronary stenosis severity, calculated as a trans-lesion pressure ratio during a specific period of baseline diastole, when distal resistance is lowest and stable. Because all previous studies have calculated iFR offline, the feasibility of real-time iFR measurement has never been assessed.
Background: Durable polymers used for first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) potentially contribute to persistent inflammation and late DES thrombosis. The vascular response to the Stellium stent, which is coated with an absorbable polymer for slow release of low-dose paclitaxel, was evaluated in the present study.
Methods And Results: The 37 patients with stable angina were implanted with 47 Stellium stents.
We describe four cases with symptomatic coronary artery fistulas that were treated primarily with endovascular cyanoacrylate embolization. Coils were also used as adjunctive embolic agents in two of these cases. All four cases showed symptomatic improvement after closure of the fistulas.
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