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AbstractBackgroundLipid-rich plaque covered by a thin fibrous cap (FC) has been identified as a frequent morphological substrate for the development of acute coronary syndrome. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) permits the identification and measurement of the FC. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been approved for detection of coronary lipids.AimsWe aimed to assess the ability of detailed OCT analysis to identify coronary lipids, using NIRS as the reference method.MethodsIn total, 40 patients with acute coronary syndrome underwent imaging of a non-culprit lesion by both NIRS and OCT. For each segment, the NIRS-derived 4 mm segment with maximal lipid core burden index (maxLCBI4mm) was assessed. OCT analysis was performed using a semi-automated method including measurement of the fibrous cap thickness (FCT) of all detected fibroatheromas. Subsequent quantitative volumetric evaluation furnished FCT, FC surface area (FC SA), lipid arc, and FC (fibrous cap) volume data. OCT features of lipid plaques were compared with maxLCBI4mm. Predictors of maxLCBI4mm>400 was assessed by using univariable and multivariable analysis.ResultsOCT features (mean FCT, total FC SA, FC volume, maximal, mean, and total lipid arcs) strongly correlated with the maxLCBI4mm(p = 0.012 for the mean FCT, respectively p < 0.001 for all other aforementioned features). The strongest predictors of maxLCBI4mm>400 were the maximal (p = 0.002) and mean (p = 0.002) lipid arc, and total FC SA (p = 0.012).ConclusionsWe found a strong correlation between the OCT-derived features and NIRS findings. Detailed OCT analysis may be reliably used for detection of the presence of coronary lipids.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most deadly solid malignancy, is typically detected late and at an inoperable stage. Early or incidental detection is associated with prolonged survival, but screening asymptomatic individuals for PDAC using a single test remains unfeasible due to the low prevalence and potential harms of false positives. Non-contrast computed tomography (CT), routinely performed for clinical indications, offers the potential for large-scale screening, however, identification of PDAC using non-contrast CT has long been considered impossible. Here, we develop a deep learning approach, pancreatic cancer detection with artificial intelligence (PANDA), that can detect and classify pancreatic lesions with high accuracy via non-contrast CT. PANDA is trained on a dataset of 3,208 patients from a single center. PANDA achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.986–0.996 for lesion detection in a multicenter validation involving 6,239 patients across 10 centers, outperforms the mean radiologist performance by 34.1% in sensitivity and 6.3% in specificity for PDAC identification, and achieves a sensitivity of 92.9% and specificity of 99.9% for lesion detection in a real-world multi-scenario validation consisting of 20,530 consecutive patients. Notably, PANDA utilized with non-contrast CT shows non-inferiority to radiology reports (using contrast-enhanced CT) in the differentiation of common pancreatic lesion subtypes. PANDA could potentially serve as a new tool for large-scale pancreatic cancer screening.

ObjectiveThe initial data of the International Study on Acute Coronary Syndromes - ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction COVID-19 showed in Europe a remarkable reduction in primary percutaneous coronary intervention procedures and higher in-hospital mortality during the initial phase of the pandemic as compared with the prepandemic period. The aim of the current study was to provide the final results of the registry, subsequently extended outside Europe with a larger inclusion period (up to June 2020) and longer follow-up (up to 30 days).MethodsThis is a retrospective multicentre registry in 109 high-volume primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) centres from Europe, Latin America, South-East Asia and North Africa, enrolling 16 674 patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing PPPCI in March/June 2019 and 2020. The main study outcomes were the incidence of PPCI, delayed treatment (ischaemia time >12 hours and door-to-balloon >30 min), in-hospital and 30-day mortality.ResultsIn 2020, during the pandemic, there was a significant reduction in PPCI as compared with 2019 (incidence rate ratio 0.843, 95% CI 0.825 to 0.861, p<0.0001). This reduction was significantly associated with age, being higher in older adults (>75 years) (p=0.015), and was not related to the peak of cases or deaths due to COVID-19. The heterogeneity among centres was high (p<0.001). Furthermore, the pandemic was associated with a significant increase in door-to-balloon time (40 (25–70) min vs 40 (25–64) min, p=0.01) and total ischaemia time (225 (135–410) min vs 196 (120–355) min, p<0.001), which may have contributed to the higher in-hospital (6.5% vs 5.3%, p<0.001) and 30-day (8% vs 6.5%, p=0.001) mortality observed during the pandemic.ConclusionPercutaneous revascularisation for STEMI was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 16% reduction in PPCI procedures, especially among older patients (about 20%), and longer delays to treatment, which may have contributed to the increased in-hospital and 30-day mortality during the pandemic.Trial registration numberNCT04412655.

AbstractBackground:We tested whether the level of endothelial dysfunction assessed by digital tonometry, and expressed as reactive hyperemia index (RHI), is related to occurrences of a discrepancy between fractional flow reserve (FFR) and the instantaneous wave free ratio (iFR) (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03033810).Methods:We examined patients with coronary stenosis in the range of 40–70%, assessed by both FFR and iFR (system Philips-Volcano) for stable angina. We included consecutive patients with FFR and iFR in one native coronary artery, and who had had no previous intervention.Results:We included 138 patients. Out of those, 24 patients (17.4%) had a negative FFR (with an FFR value >0.8) and positive iFR (with a iFR value ≤0.89) – designated the FFRn/iFRp discrepancy group, and 22 patients (15.9%) had a positive FFR (≤0.8) and negative iFR (>0.89) – designated the FFRp/iFRn discrepancy. RHI was higher in the discrepancy groups compared the group without discrepancy (1.73 ± 0.79 vs.1.48 ± 0.50, p = 0.025). However, this finding was not confirmed in multivariant logistic regression analyses. Patients with any type of discrepancy differed from the agreement group by having a higher occurrence of diabetes mellitus [9 patients (21.4%) vs.36 patients (39.6%), p = 0.029], active smoking (23 patients or 54.8% vs.26 patients or 28.6%, p = 0.003) and lower use of calcium channel blockers (9 patients, 21.4%, vs.43 patients, 46.7%, p = 0.004).Conclusion:The presence of endothelial dysfunction can be associated with a discrepancy in FFR/iFR. However, RHI correlated with risk factors of atherosclerosis, not with FFR or iFR.

Simplicity, reproducibility, and convincing data from randomized clinical trials have not only led to the gradual inclusion of the fractional flow reserve (FFR) as routine practice in the catheterization laboratory, but also to the method being widely accepted as the gold standard for the invasive evaluation of the haemodynamic significance of coronary stenoses.

AbstractBackground:The only indication for coronary revascularization is elimination of ischaemia. Invasive hemodynamic methods (fractional flow reserve – FFR and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) are superior to coronary angiography in detection of lesions causing myocardial ischaemia. Current European guidelines for myocardial revascularization recommend using of FFR for detection of functional assessment of lesions severity in category IA and number of these procedures increases. However, routine usage of these methods requires knowledge of technical requirements and limitations.Aim:The aim of the study is to summarise good clinical practice for FFR and iFR measurements with explanation of possible technical challenges, that are necessary for increasing of measurement accuracy.Conclusions:Authors describe frequent technical mistakes and malpractice during invasive assessment of lesion severity in coronary arteries.

Se ha considerado que el engrosamiento intimal patológico (EIP) es un fenotipo de placa benigno. Se presentan los cambios fenotípicos de la placa en un estudio comparativo entre situación basal y seguimiento mediante un estudio de reconstrucción histológica virtual por ecografía intravascular.

Background:An increasing number of cardiac centres are using immediate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) in patients with refractory out of hospital cardiac arrest (r-OHCA). Published evidence regarding PCI in OHCA has been mainly reporting to patients with early return of spontaneous circulation and the influence of PCI and ECPR on survival in the population of patients with r-OHCA and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unclear.Methods:In this post hoc analysis of the randomized r-OHCA trial, all patients with ACS as a cause of r-OHCA were included. The effect of successful PCI and ECPR on 180-days survival was examined using Kaplan-Meier estimates and multivariable Cox regression.Results:In total, 256 patients were evaluated in Prague OHCA study and 127 (49.6 %) had ACS as the cause of r-OHCA constituting current study population. The mean age was 58 years (46.3-64) and duration of resuscitation was 52.5 minutes (36.5-68). ECPR was used in 51 (40.2 %) of patients. Immediate PCI was performed in 86 (67.7%) patients and TIMI flow 2 or 3 was achieved in 75 (87.2%) patients. The overall 180-days survival of patients with successful PCI was 40 % compared to 7.7 % with no or failed immediate PCI (log-rank p < 0.001). After adjustment for confounders, successful PCI was associated with a lower risk of death (HR 0.47, CI 0.24-0.93, p = 0.031). Likewise, ECPR was associated with a lower risk of death (HR 0.11, CI 0.05-0.24, p< 0.001).Conclusion:In this post hoc analysis of the randomized r-OHCA trial, successful immediate PCI as well as ECPR were associated with improved 180-days survival in patients with r-OHCA due to ACS.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, concerns have been arisen on the use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASI) due to the potentially increased expression of Angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE)2 and patient's susceptibility to SARS-CoV2 infection. Diabetes mellitus have been recognized favoring the coronavirus infection with consequent increase mortality in COVID-19. No data have been so far reported in diabetic patients suffering from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a very high-risk population deserving of RASI treatment.