Our top 10 stories of April 2021, including: highlights from the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions 2021 scientific sessions (SCAI 2021, 28 April–1 May, virtual); Joseph Bavaria discusses TAVI trends and; the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular care.
- Understanding trends in TAVI and surgical aortic valve replacement
With recent data pointing to a shift towards more transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures taking place across the USA, overtaking surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for the first time in 2019, Cardiovascular News spoke to Joseph Bavaria (Philadelphia, USA to discuss the future of TAVI and SAVR.
- Xience stent receives CE mark for short duration DAPT
Abbott has announced that its Xience stent has received CE mark in Europe for shorter duration of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT)—including for 28 days—for patients with high bleeding risk (HBR).
- COVID-19 “lays the foundation for a digital shift in cardiovascular care”
More patients, particularly those with medical risk factors or from underserved communities, opted into telehealth appointments for their cardiovascular care during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-sectional study of more than 176,000 ambulatory cardiology visits in Los Angeles County, USA, has shown.
- First patient enrolled in PROTECT IV randomised controlled trial of Impella
Abiomed announced that the first patient has been enrolled in PROTECT IV, a large, prospective, multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) of Impella in high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (HRPCI).
- Interim OPTIMIZE PRO results point to benefit for cusp overlap TAVI technique
Medtronic announced results from an interim analysis of the first 171 patients treated in the OPTIMIZE PRO clinical study, a post-market, prospective, multicentre study evaluating procedural outcomes associated with procedure-related techniques and post-procedure transcatheter aortic valve implant (TAVI) care.
- Prolonged DAPT “should remain the standard of care” in ACS patients
Analysis of the prospective Fuwai PCI Registry using selection criteria from the TWILIGHT trial, has concluded that long-term dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) remains an optimal treatment option for acute coronary syndrome patients (ACS) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
- ISCHEMIA trial population not reflected in real-world patients
Patients studied in the ISCHEMIA trial, the largest trial to date to compare revascularisation with a conservative strategy in patients with stable ischaemic heart disease (SIHD), may be unrepresentative of ischaemic heart disease patients entering US cath labs, research presented in a late-breaking trial session at SCAI 2021 has concluded.
- Robotic PCI achieves high clinical and technical success “in a wide spectrum of lesions”
Robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using the second-generation CorPath GRX (Corindus) system achieved high rates of clinical and technical success, across a wide spectrum of lesions. These were the conclusions of the PRECISION GRX study, presented at SCAI 2021 by Ehtisham Mahmud (San Diego, USA).
- Research lays bare the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEMI care
Two research papers presented at SCAI 2021 offer a snapshot of the stark impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular care.
- Next generation TriClip gains CE mark approval
Abbott has received CE mark for its next-generation TriClip transcatheter tricuspid valve repair system, the first-of-its-kind minimally invasive tricuspid heart valve repair device available in Europe to treat tricuspid regurgitation (TR).
