Obesity and coronary intervention: should we continue to use Body Mass Index as a risk factor?

Background: Central anthropometric indexes are better than the body mass index to discriminate elevated coronary risk. However, the Body Mass Index (BMI) is still the most frequently studied anthropometric index on outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCI).

Objective: To recognize, among several anthropometric indexes of obesity, which one best discriminates MACE (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) after PCI.

Changes in P-wave after percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty in patients with mitral stenosis and left atrial enlargement.

Objective: To investigate potential clinical, echocardiographic and/or hemodynamic predictors of the regression of electrocardiographic (ECG) signs of left atrial enlargement (LAE) after successful percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV).

Methods: We studied 24 patients (75% female, mean age =37.1 +/- 11.

Randomized comparison between Inoue balloon and metallic commissurotome in the treatment of rheumatic mitral stenosis: immediate results and 6-month and 3-year follow-up.

The metallic commissurotome (MC) technique is a cheaper alternative to the Inoue balloon (IB) technique for percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV). There are no randomized trials comparing these techniques with longer follow-up of the patients. The objective of this study was to compare the immediate results and short- and medium-term follow-up of PMV using either the IB or the MC technique.