[Outpatient coronary angiography and angioplastie/ why, how and for wich patients?].

There is great heterogeneity in lengths of stay in interventional cardiology but the number of outpatient procedures is increasing. The expected benefits of an outpatient procedure are numerous and non-inferiority of this strategy has been demonstrated. Proper selection of patients eligible for this treatment is essential to minimize the risks of unplanned hospitalization and early complications.

In-Hospital and 1-Year Clinical Results from the French Registry Using Polymer-Free Sirolimus-Eluting Stents in Acute Coronary Syndrome and Stable Coronary Artery Disease.

Objectives: The aim of this postmarket clinical study was to assess the safety and efficacy of the latest generation polymer-free sirolimus-eluting stents (PF-SES) in an all-comers population comparing outcomes in stable coronary artery disease (CAD) versus acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in France.

Background: The efficacy and safety of the first-generation PF-SES have already been demonstrated by randomized controlled trials and "all-comers" observational studies.

Methods: For this all-comers observational, prospective, multicenter study, 1456 patients were recruited in 22 French centers.

Acoustic videodensitometric parameters correlate with abnormalities of left ventricular filling in hypertensive patients assessed via Doppler Tissue Imaging.

Purpose: Using a videodensitometric technique developed in our center we investigated whether the amplitude of variation of gray levels in the interventricular septum was related to functional parameters, especially ventricular filling as studied by doppler tissue imaging (DTI) in hypertensive patients.

Methods And Results: We included 35 hypertensive patients from whom we recorded a two dimensional sequence of the left ventricle from the short axis parasternal view and a doppler tissue scan of the mitral ring. Two-dimensional sections were then analyzed with Iodp software to measure variations in levels of gray in the septum.

Importance of anterograde visualization of the coronary venous network by selective left coronary angiography prior to resynchronization.

Background: Understanding of coronary anatomy is essential to the advancement of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) techniques. We determined whether the difficulties associated with catheterization of the coronary sinus (CS) and its lateral branches could be overcome by a preliminary angiographical study of the coronary venous system carried out during a pre-operative coronary angiography with examination of venous return.

Methods And Results: All patients were scheduled for an exploratory angiography procedure and indicated for CRT.

Arterial stiffness evaluated by measurement of the QKD interval is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events.

Background: The QKD interval is the time between the QRS wave on the electrocardiogram (ECG) and the detection of the last Korotkoff sound during BP measurement. Measurement of the QKD interval during ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring provides an automatic evaluation of arterial stiffness. The objective of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship between arterial stiffness assessed by this method and the occurrence of cardiovascular complications in a cohort of initially untreated hypertensive patients.

Blood pressure surge on rising.

Objectives: Since cardiovascular complications tend to occur more often in the morning, it is tempting to link this to the surge in blood pressure (BP) on rising. Our objective was to measure BP and heart rate (HR) on rising and compare values with those recorded immediately beforehand and seek variables related to marked changes in the two parameters in a cohort of initially untreated hypertensives.

Methods: The 24-h ambulatory BP measurement along with an accurate measurement of the BP on rising (either manually or automatically from the device coupled with a position sensor) was obtained in untreated hypertensives.