Update on interventional cardiology.

This article provides a detailed review of the most important studies on interventional cardiology reported in publications or presentations during the year 2012. With regard to coronary interventions, ST-elevation myocardial infarction is extensively addressed in studies focusing on the relevance of reducing the reperfusion time and the utility of various devices and pharmacological strategies in primary angioplasty. Multiple comparative studies involving different generations of drug-eluting stents are available and indicate a favorable progression in terms of safety and efficacy. The risk of late thrombosis with the new generations of drug-eluting stents seems to be equivalent to that observed with bare-metal stents. The clinical outcomes with these stents in the elderly, in left main coronary artery, or in multivessel disease have also been the subject of important trials. Among the studies on intracoronary diagnostic techniques, those correlating imaging and pressure-based techniques are of special interest. The percutaneous treatment of structural heart disease, particularly transcatheter aortic valve implantation, followed by mitral repair, continues to be the subject of a great number of publications. Finally, renal denervation is currently being widely discussed in the literature.