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Background: The prognostic implications of combined pre- and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension (Cpc-PH) in patients with pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) remain controversial. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the new PH-LHD criteria, recommended by the 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension and to determine the prognostic value of Cpc-PH., Methods: A total of 701 patients with symptomatic heart failure who had undergone right-heart catheterization were divided into the following four groups: (i) Isolated post-capillary PH (Ipc-PH) group; mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) >20 mmHg, pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) >15 mmHg, and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) <3 Wood units (WU) (ii) Cpc-PH group; mPAP >20 mmHg, PAWP >15 mmHg, and PVR ≥3 WU (iii) borderline-PH group; mPAP >20 mmHg and PAWP ≤15 mmHg (iv) non-PH group; mPAP ≤20 mmHg. Multivariate Cox hazard analysis was used to investigate whether Cpc-PH was associated with cardiac outcomes., Results: The study subjects were allocated into the Ipc-PH (n = 268), Cpc-PH (n = 54), borderline-PH (n = 112), or non-PH (n = 267) groups. The Cpc-PH group was associated significantly with adverse cardiac events even after adjustment for clinically relevant confounding factors for heart failure prognosis (vs. non-PH group: HR 2.98 [95% CI 1.81-4.90], P <0.001; vs. Ipc-PH group: HR: 1.92 [95% CI 1.19-3.08], P = 0.007)., Conclusions: The new definitions of PH-LHD stratified patients into 4 categories. Long-term clinical outcomes were significantly different between the four categories, with Cpc-PH having the worst cardiac outcomes., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Dr. Wada has received speaking honoraria from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Japan Ltd., Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., Bayer Yakuhin Ltd., and Pfizer Japan Inc. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the mid-term clinical outcomes of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-calcified nodules between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with and without rotational atherectomy (RA)., Background: There has been a debate whether to use RA for the revascularization of calcified nodule. Although RA can ablate the calcified structure within calcified nodule and may facilitate adequate stent expansion, RA may provoke severe coronary perforation, because calcified nodule typically shows eccentric calcification., Methods: We included 204 lesions with IVUS-calcified nodule, and divided into 73 lesions treated with RA (RA group) and 131 lesions without RA (non-RA group). After propensity-score matching, 42 lesions with RA (matched RA group) and 42 lesions without RA (matched non-RA group) were selected. We compared the clinical characteristics and outcomes between the 2 groups before and after propensity-score matching. The primary endpoint was ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization (TVR) within 1 year., Results: Acute lumen area gain on IVUS was comparable between the matched RA group and matched non-RA group (3.9 ± 2.1 mm2 vs. 3.4 ± 1.6 mm2, p = 0.18). The stent malapposition at calcified nodules was frequently observed in both groups. The ischemia-driven TVR was not different between the 2 groups before (p = 0.82) and after propensity score-matching (p = 0.87)., Conclusions: The use of RA could not reduce the incidence of ischemia-driven TVR in lesions with IVUS-calcified nodule. Our results do not support the routine use of RA for lesions with IVUS-calcified nodule., Competing Interests: Dr. Sakakura has received speaking honoraria from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic Cardiovascular, Terumo, OrbusNeich, Japan Lifeline, Kaneka, and NIPRO; he has served as a proctor for Rotablator for Boston Scientific, and he has served as a consultant for Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific. Prof. Fujita has served as a consultant for Mehergen Group Holdings, Inc. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Background: Since the long fluoroscopy time in primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) could be an indicator of delayed reperfusion, it should be important to recognize which types of lesions require longer fluoroscopy-time in primary PCI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of the long fluoroscopy-time with clinical factors in primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI)., Methods: A total of 539 patients who underwent primary PCI were divided into the conventional fluoroscopy-time group (Q1-Q4: n = 434) and the long fluoroscopy-time group (Q5: n = 105) according to the quintile of the total fluoroscopy time in primary PCI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to find associations between clinical variables and the long fluoroscopy-time., Results: In univariate logistic regression analysis, prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hemodialysis, and previous CABG were significantly associated with the long fluoroscopy-time. In addition, complex lesion characteristics such as lesion length, lesion angle, tortuosity, and calcification were associated with the long fluoroscopy-time. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, lesion length [per 10 mm incremental: odds ratio (OR) 1.751, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.397-2.195, P<0.001], moderate-excessive tortuosity (vs. mild tortuosity: OR 4.006, 95% CI 1.498-10.715, P = 0.006), and moderate to severe calcification (vs. none-mild calcification: OR 1.865, 95% CI 1.107-3.140, P = 0.019) were significantly associated with the long fluoroscopy-time., Conclusions: In primary PCI for STEMI, diffuse long lesion, tortuosity, and moderate-severe calcification were associated with the long fluoroscopy-time. These complex features require special attention to reduce reperfusion time in primary PCI., Competing Interests: I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Dr. Sakakura has received speaking honoraria from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic Cardiovascular, Terumo, OrbusNeich, Japan Lifeline, and NIPRO; he has served as a proctor for Rotablator for Boston Scientific; and he has served as a consultant for Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific. Prof. Fujita has served as a consultant for Mehergen Group Holdings, Inc. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Background: Recently, the importance of chronic total occlusion (CTO)-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been emphasized with greater success rates. In the antegrade wire based approach, it is generally considered that the guidewire would not advance from the subintimal space to the intimal space without dissection re-entry device. However, it is sometimes observed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) that the guidewire within the subintimal space advanced into the distal true lumen. The purpose of this study was to investigate specific conditions or characteristics which were associated with "antegrade true-sub-true" phenomenon in CTO-PCI., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive 320 CTO lesions that underwent CTO-PCI in our institution. Among them, 16 lesions in which the IVUS confirmed the "antegrade true-sub-true" phenomenon were categorized as the true-sub-true group, whereas 27 lesions that resulted in unsuccessful CTO-PCI were categorized as the unsuccessful group. We compared the clinical, lesion, and procedural characteristics between the true-sub-true group and the unsuccessful group., Results: The prevalence of bifurcation with abrupt type in CTO exit-sites was significantly higher in the true-sub-true group in comparison to the unsuccessful group (75.0% vs. 25.9%, p = 0.002). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that bifurcation with abrupt type in CTO exit-site (OR 8.017; 95%CI: 1.484-43.304; p = 0.016) was independent predictor of the antegrade true-sub-true phenomenon., Conclusions: In CTO-PCI, the antegrade true-sub-true phenomenon is rare, but can be a last chance for successful PCI. Bifurcation with abrupt type in CTO exit-site was significantly associated with the antegrade true-sub-true phenomenon., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Dr. Sakakura has received speaking honoraria from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic Cardiovascular, Terumo, OrbusNeich, and NIPRO; has served as a proctor for Rotablator for Boston Scientific; and has served as a consultant for Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific. Prof. Fujita served as a consultant for Mehergen Group Holdings, Inc. Other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: The incidence of severe complications such as burr entrapment or perforation is considerable with rotational atherectomy (RA). Halfway RA is a novel strategy, in which an operator does not advance the burr to the end of a continuous calcified lesion, and performs balloon dilatation to treat the remaining part of the calcified lesion. The purpose of this study was to compare complications after halfway and conventional RA., Methods: We included 307 consecutive lesions that were divided into a conventional RA group (n = 244) and halfway RA group (n = 63). In analysis 1, the incidence of complications was compared between the conventional RA and halfway RA groups. Propensity-score matching was used to match the intentional halfway RA and conventional RA. In analysis 2, the incidence of complications was compared between the matched conventional RA and intentional halfway RA groups., Results: Burr entrapment (0.4%) and major perforation (0.8%) were observed in the conventional RA group, whereas there was no burr entrapment or perforation in the halfway RA group. The success rate of halfway RA was 90.5%, which required switching from halfway RA to conventional RA. The incidences of slow flow and periprocedural myocardial infarction with slow flow were similar between the intentional halfway RA and matched conventional RA groups., Conclusions: There was no burr entrapment or vessel perforation following halfway RA. The incidences of slow flow and periprocedural myocardial infarction were similar between the intentional halfway RA and the matched conventional RA, indicating the safety of halfway RA., Competing Interests: Dr. Sakakura has received speaking honoraria from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic Cardiovascular, Terumo, OrbusNeich, Japan Lifeline, and NIPRO; he has served as a proctor for Rotablator for Boston Scientific; and he has served as a consultant for Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific. Prof. Fujita has served as a consultant for Mehergen Group Holdings, Inc. All other authors have no competing interests. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.