Comparison of Radiation Exposure Among Interventional Echocardiographers, Interventional Cardiologists, and Sonographers During Percutaneous Structural Heart Interventions.

Importance: Transesophageal echocardiography during percutaneous left atrial appendage closure (LAAO) and transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER) require an interventional echocardiographer to stand near the radiation source and patient, the primary source of scatter radiation. Despite previous work demonstrating high radiation exposure for interventional cardiologists performing percutaneous coronary and structural heart interventions, similar data for interventional echocardiographers are lacking.

Objective: To assess whether interventional echocardiographers are exposed to greater radiation doses than interventional cardiologists and sonographers during structural heart procedures.

Multimodality Intracoronary Imaging With Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Intravascular Ultrasound in Asymptomatic Individuals With High Calcium Scores.

Background: This study sought to determine the frequency of large lipid-rich plaques (LRP) in the coronary arteries of individuals with high coronary artery calcium scores (CACS) and to determine whether the CACS correlates with coronary lipid burden.

Methods And Results: Combined near-infrared spectroscopy and intravascular ultrasound was performed in 57 vessels in 20 asymptomatic individuals (90% on statins) with no prior history of coronary artery disease who had a screening CACS ≥300 Agatston units. Among 268 10-mm coronary segments, near-infrared spectroscopy images were analyzed for LRP, defined as a bright yellow block on the near-infrared spectroscopy block chemogram.

Large lipid-rich coronary plaques detected by near-infrared spectroscopy at non-stented sites in the target artery identify patients likely to experience future major adverse cardiovascular events.

Aims: A recent study demonstrated that intracoronary near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) findings in non-target vessels are associated with major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). It is unknown whether NIRS findings at non-stented sites in target vessels are similarly associated with future MACCE. This study evaluated the association between large lipid-rich plaques (LRP) detected by NIRS at non-stented sites in a target artery and subsequent MACCE.

CHADS(2) score is predictive of left atrial thrombus on precardioversion transesophageal echocardiography in atrial fibrillation.

Objective: The goals of this study were to determine: 1) if the CHADS(2) score correlates with left atrial (LA) or left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus on pre-cardioversion transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF); and 2) what, if any, components of the CHADS(2) score are most important in predicting LA/LAA thrombus.

Background: It is unknown if CHADS(2) score, a marker of thromboembolic risk in NVAF, accurately predicts LA/LAA thrombus on pre-cardioversion TEE.

Methods: We retrospectively studied patients undergoing precardioversion TEE for NVAF at a tertiary hospital.

A novel mortality risk score for female patients undergoing endovascular interventions.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has been described as a rising epidemic in recent years. The majority of subjects studied in PAD literature have been male, leaving female patients an underrepresented population with regard to revascularization outcomes. The goal of our study was to determine the death rate and predictors of mortality in female patients undergoing endovascular intervention (EI) for symptomatic PAD.