ISR vs De Novo Lesion Treatment During OCT-Guided PCI: Insights From the LightLab Initiative.

Background: Long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for in-stent restenosis (ISR) are poor, yet limited granular procedural data exist evaluating lesion assessment, vessel treatment, and acute procedural outcomes.

Methods: The LightLab Initiative was a multicenter, prospective, observational study with contemporaneous procedural data collection during PCI procedures. Data were collected during PCIs performed by 48 interventional cardiologists at 17 US hospitals (2019-2021).

A technology evaluation of the Onyx Frontier drug-eluting stent.

Introduction: Onyx Frontier represents the latest iteration within the family of zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES), designed for the treatment of coronary artery disease. Approval by the Food and Drug Administration was granted in May 2022, and Conformité Européenne marking followed in August 2022.

Areas Covered: We hereby review the principal design features of Onyx Frontier, highlighting differences and similarities with other currently available drug-eluting stents.

Complementary Utility of Intravascular Lithotripsy With Atherectomy for Severely Calcified Coronary Stenoses in Contemporary Practice.

Background: The effectiveness and safety of a contemporary combined approach that incorporates the novel intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology into conventional tools including atherectomy have yet to be studied.

Methods: We retrospectively included consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with IVL from March 2021 to February 2022. Effectiveness (residual stenosis of <30%) and safety outcomes (procedural complications and major adverse cardiovascular event [MACE] defined as a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization) were compared between patients undergoing IVL with and without atherectomy.

Safety and efficiency of percutaneous coronary intervention using a standardised optical coherence tomography workflow.

Background: While intravascular imaging guidance during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) improves outcomes, routine intravascular imaging usage remains low, in part due to perceived inefficiency and safety concerns.  Aims: The LightLab (LL) Initiative was designed to evaluate whether implementing a standardised optical coherence tomography (OCT) workflow impacts PCI safety metrics and procedural efficiency.

Methods: In this multicentre, prospective, observational study, PCI procedural data were collected over 2 years from 45 physicians at 17 US centres.

Residual SYNTAX II Score and long-term outcomes post-ST-elevation myocardial infarction in an urban US cohort: the Montefiore STEMI Registry.

Background: Higher residual anatomic disease was associated with increased mortality in a recent randomized controlled trial of revascularization after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Less is known about the impact of residual disease post-STEMI in race-ethnic minorities.

Methods: Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX)- II (SS-II) score is an established scoring method for anatomic disease and prevalent co-morbidities to describe patient complexity.

Very long-term clinical follow-up after fractional flow reserve-guided coronary revascularization.

Background: Randomized trials using measurement of fractional flow reserve (FFR) to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have demonstrated both safety and efficacy with regard to cardiac events. Real-world, long-term outcomes using an FFR-based revascularization strategy are unknown.

Methods: Prospective clinical data were collected on consecutive patients referred for coronary angiography and found to have lesions of intermediate severity where the operators were unable to make a decision regarding revascularization based on angiographic, clinical, and stress testing parameters.

Sonic hedgehog agonist fails to induce neural stem cell precursors in a porcine model of experimental intracranial hemorrhage.

Background: The role of endogenous neural stem cell progenitors in recovery from intracranial hemorrhage remains to be elucidated. Proliferation of such stem cells in the subventricular zone has been described in rodent models of experimental intracranial hemorrhage. Administration of a sonic hedgehog agonist at the time of hemorrhage was hypothesized to increase the quantity of such precursor cells.

Isolation, characterization, and differentiation of stem cells derived from the rat amniotic membrane.

Stem-cell-based therapies may offer treatments for a variety of intractable diseases. A fundamental goal in stem-cell biology concerns the characterization of diverse populations that exhibit different potentials, growth capabilities, and therapeutic utilities. We report the characterization of a stem-cell population isolated from tissue explants of rat amniotic membrane.