Clinical Outcomes of Percutaneous Left-Atrial Appendage Occlusion with Conscious Sedation without an Anesthesiologist on Site: Results from a Multicenter Study.

: Percutaneous left-atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion is an important therapeutic option for preventing cardioembolic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) at high risk of thromboembolic events and with contraindications for oral anticoagulation (OAC). It is usually performed with transesophageal echocardiography (TOE) guidance under general anesthesia (GA). In this retrospective study, we present a multicenter experience of LAA occlusion performed with conscious sedation (CS) without an anesthesiologist on site.

Usefulness of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for Recurrent Pericarditis.

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) offers the capability to objectively detect pericarditis by identifying pericardial thickening, edema/inflammation by Short-TI Inversion Recovery-T2 weighted (STIR-T2w) imaging, edema/inflammation or fibrosis by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), and presence of pericardial effusion. This is especially helpful for the diagnosis of recurrent pericarditis. Aim of the present paper is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of CMR findings as well as their potential prognostic value for the diagnosis of recurrent pericarditis.

Temporal changes in the current practice of primary angioplasty: a real life experience of a single high-volume center.

Background: In the last years, new techniques, drugs and devices have been introduced in the current practice of primary angioplasty (PPCI) and validated by pivotal studies The objective of our study was to evaluate if these studies have led to significant changes on the current practice of primary PCI in our center.

Methods: From March 2003 to December 2013 1980 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction underwent PPCI within 12-hours of onset of symptoms. We considered 2 periods of our activity: from 2003 to 2009 (P1) with 1078 patients and from 2010 to 2013 (P2) with 902 patients, and compared them in terms of pharmacological and arterial access strategies and of devices utilization.

Feasibility of carotid artery stenting with double cerebral embolic protection in high-risk patients.

Background: Previous trials comparing carotid artery stenting (CAS) with carotid endarterectomy have shown that the former can increase the stroke rate. However, in the last years, because of the improvements either of the technique or the improvement of the stents and embolic protection devices (EPD), CAS has become a very competitive procedure. In this study, we tried to assess the feasibility and the safety of using double EPD (proximal and distal) in high-risk patients.

[MGuard Dacron mesh-covered stent implantation in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and high thrombotic burden: in-hospital and long-term outcome in a single high-volume center].

Background: The MGuard (MG) is a stainless-steel closed cell stent covered with an ultra-thin polymer mesh sleeve, which has the purpose of ensuring reduced distal embolization of thrombotic material, thus lowering the risk of no-reflow/slow-flow phenomena. Only few data are available that evaluated the usefulness of the MG stent in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with a high thrombotic burden.

Methods: We prospectively collected data of patients presenting with STEMI and high thrombotic burden (thrombus burden grade 4 or 5 according to the TIMI score) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with MG stent implantation in our center.