Drug-coated balloons: Technical and clinical progress.

The advancement of drug-coated balloons (DCB) presents an alternative nonstent method in the percutaneous treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. While the current generation of drug-eluting stents (DES) are the device of choice, especially in coronary artery disease (CAD), DCB has potential applications in the treatment of de novo lesions, in-stent restenosis (ISR), bifurcations, and in peripheral artery disease (PAD). In terms of coronary clinical experience, DCB is used most in ISR scenarios and more data are collected to support the use of DCB in de novo lesions compared to best-in-class DES.

Role and significance of plasma citrulline in the early phase after small bowel transplantation in pigs.

A reliable serological marker of acute cellular rejection (ACR) after small bowel transplantation (SBTx) is still missing. Plasma citrulline level (PCL) reflects the functional integrity of intestinal mucosa which is partially lost during ACR. The aim of our study was to investigate the role of PCL as marker of ACR after SBTx.