Comparative evaluation of standard maintenance-dose clopidogrel versus low-dose prasugrel in patients with stable coronary artery disease after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Treatment with low-dose prasugrel might be more beneficial even in chronic stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients treated with clopidogrel. We compared platelet reactivity between standard maintenance-dose and low-dose prasugrel in stable CAD patients.

Methods: This multicenter study enrolled 164 stable CAD patients receiving dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel.

A case of aortic valve laceration after balloon aortic valvuloplasty with morphological features.

A 71-year-old man suffered from congestive heart failure due to severe aortic stenosis. We performed balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) as a bridge to transcatheter aortic valve replacement using transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) by the retrograde approach. Balloon dilatation was carefully performed using an 18 mm balloon.