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Background: Current evidence suggests that use of intracoronary imaging during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) reduces mortality. However, there is a scarcity of data on the overall role of intracoronary imaging, particularly in other non-LMCA proximal coronary artery lesions. We aimed to investigate the association of use of intracoronary imaging on outcome in proximal lesions treated with PCI., Methods: The Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry was used to identify all proximal coronary artery lesions treated with stent implantation between June 11, 2013, and January 16, 2021. Proximal coronary artery lesions (LMCA, proximal left anterior descending artery, left circumflex artery, and right coronary artery) assessed by intracoronary imaging before and/or after stent implantation were matched to control lesions treated based on angiography alone using propensity score matching. The primary end point was target lesion revascularization with PCI, and secondary end points included all-cause mortality and definite stent thrombosis within 3 years., Results: Among the 3623 matched pairs, intracoronary imaging was associated with significantly lower risk of target lesion revascularization, 3.7% vs 4.7%; hazard ratio (HR), 0.77; 95% CI, 0.61-0.97; P = .025, and all-cause mortality, 9.1% vs 12.8%; HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.61-0.81; P < .001, with no difference in definite stent thrombosis., Conclusions: The use of intracoronary imaging in proximal coronary artery lesions is associated with lower rates of repeat revascularization and better survival. The results appear to be primarily driven by improved outcome of LMCA lesions. These results reinforce the role of intracoronary imaging in assessing and treating proximal coronary lesions., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background The long-term course of coronary atherosclerosis has not been studied in large nationwide cohorts. Understanding the natural history of coronary atherosclerosis could help identify patients at risk for future coronary events. Methods and Results All coronary artery segments with <50% luminal stenosis in patients with a first-time coronary angiogram between 1989 and 2017 were identified (n=2 661 245 coronary artery segments in 248 736 patients) and followed until a clinically indicated angiography within 15 years was performed or until death or end of follow-up (April 2018) using SCAAR (Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry). The stenosis progression and incidence rates were 2.6% and 1.45 (95% CI, 1.43-1.46) per 1000 segment-years, respectively. The greatest progression rate occurred in the proximal and middle segments of the left anterior descending artery. Male sex and diabetes were associated with a 2-fold increase in risk, and nearly 70% of new stenoses occurred in patients with baseline single-vessel disease (hazard ratio, 3.86 [95% CI, 3.69-4.04]). Coronary artery segments in patients with no baseline risk factors had a progression rate of 0.6% and incidence rate of 0.36 (95% CI, 0.34-0.39), increasing to 8.1% and 4.01 (95% CI, 3.89-4.14) per 1000 segment-years, respectively, in patients with ≥4 risk factors. The prognostic impact of risk factors on stenosis progression was greatest in younger patients and women. Conclusions Coronary atherosclerosis progressed slowly but more frequently in the left coronary artery in men and in the presence of traditional risk factors. Coronary artery segments in patients without risk factors had little or no risk of stenosis progression, and the relative impact of risk factors appears to be of greater importance in younger patients and women. These findings help in the understanding the long-term course of coronary atherosclerosis.

Background: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is frequently administered before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)., Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate if pretreatment with UFH prior to arrival at the catheterisation laboratory affects coronary artery occlusion, mortality, and in-hospital major bleeding in patients with STEMI undergoing PCI., Methods: Patients with a first STEMI event undergoing PCI between 2008 and 2016 were extracted from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry. Risk ratios for UFH pretreatment versus no pretreatment regarding coronary artery occlusion at presentation in the catheterisation laboratory, 30-day mortality, and bleeding were obtained using adjusted Poisson regression models with robust standard errors. Analyses of propensity score (PS)-matched groups were performed to obtain absolute risk differences., Results: In all, 41,631 patients were included, 16,026 (38%) with and 25,605 (62%) without UFH pretreatment. Adjusted risk ratios were 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87 to 0.90) for coronary artery occlusion, 0.87 (0.77 to 0.99) for mortality, and 1.01 (0.86 to 1.18) for bleeding. In the PS-matched analyses, the absolute risk differences were -0.087 (-0.074 to -0.099) for coronary artery occlusion, -0.011 (-0.017 to -0.0041) for mortality, and 0 (-0.0052 to 0.0052) for bleeding., Conclusions: Pretreatment with UFH was associated with a reduction in coronary artery occlusion among patients with STEMI, with a number needed to treat (NNT) of 12, without increasing the risk of major in-hospital bleeding. Regarding mortality, a reduction was found with UFH pretreatment, with an NNT of 94, but this effect was not robust over all sensitivity analyses and residual confounding cannot be excluded.

Background The use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to treat unprotected left main coronary artery disease has expanded rapidly in the past decade. We aimed to describe nationwide trends in clinical practice and outcomes after PCI for left main coronary artery disease. Methods and Results Patients (n=4085) enrolled in the SCAAR (Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry) as undergoing PCI for left main coronary artery disease from 2005 to 2017 were included. A count regression model was used to analyze time-related differences in procedural characteristics. The 3-year major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event rate defined as death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox proportional hazard model. The number of annual PCI procedures grew from 121 in 2005 to 589 in 2017 (389%). The increase was greater for men (479%) and individuals with diabetes (500%). Periprocedural complications occurred in 7.9%, decreasing from 10% to 6% during the study period. A major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event occurred in 35.7% of patients, falling from 45.6% to 23.9% (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.41-0.78; P =0.001). Radial artery access rose from 21.5% to 74.2% and intracoronary diagnostic procedures from 14.0% to 53.3%. Use of bare-metal stents and first-generation drug-eluting stents fell from 19.0% and 71.9%, respectively, to 0, with use of new-generation drug-eluting stents increasing to 95.2%. Conclusions Recent changes in clinical practice relating to PCI for left main coronary artery disease are characterized by a 4-fold rise in procedures conducted, increased use of evidence-based adjunctive treatment strategies, intracoronary diagnostics, newer stents, and more favorable outcomes.

Background: Radial artery is the preferred access site in contemporary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, limited data exist regarding utilization pattern, safety, and long-term efficacy of transradial artery access (TRA) PCI in heavily calcified lesions using high-speed rotational atherectomy (HSRA)., Methods: All patients who underwent HSRA-PCI in Sweden between 2005 and 2016 were included. Outcomes were major adverse cardiac events (MACE, including death, myocardial infarction (MI) or target vessel revascularisation (TVR)), in-hospital bleeding and restenosis. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to adjust for the non-randomized access site selection., Results: We included 1479 patients of whom 649 had TRA and 782 transfemoral artery access (TFA) HSRA-PCI. The rate of TRA increased significantly by 18% per year but remained lower in HSRA-PCI (60%) than in the overall PCI population (85%) in 2016. TRA was associated with comparable angiographic success but significantly lower risk for major (adjusted OR 0.16; 95% CI 0.05-0.47) or any in-hospital bleeding (adjusted OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.13-0.78). At one year, the adjusted risk for MACE (HR 0.87; 95% CI 0.67-1.13) and its individual components did not differ between TRA and TFA patients. The risk for restenosis did not significantly differ between TRA and TFA HSRA-PCI treated lesions (adjusted HR 0.92; 95% CI 0.46-1.81)., Conclusion: HSRA-PCI by TRA was associated with significantly lower risk for in-hospital bleeding and equivalent long-term efficacy when compared with TFA. Our data support the feasibility and superior safety profile of TRA in HSRA-PCI., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)