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Objectives: Calcific peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a common finding in patients scheduled for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and often requires iliofemoral axis preparation. However, evidence about the use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in this setting is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe in-hospital and mid-term outcomes of IVL-assisted transfemoral (TF)-TAVI in patients with severe calcific PAD.n Methods: The study included 13 patients with severe calcified PAD who were initially scheduled for balloon angioplasty (PTA)-assisted TF-TAVI but were eventually treated with peripheral IVL between October 2020 and February 2024. Accurate analysis of preoperative computed tomography scans revealed difficult TF access routes (severe calcified PAD with minimal lumen diameter ≤ 4.5 mm, circumferential calcification along iliofemoral axis, and marked vessels tortuosity)., Results: In all cases, IVL was performed after PTA failure and allowed successful valve delivery. One patient had procedural bleeding (BARC-3a). The valve was successfully delivered without complications in 12 patients (92.3%), and no major adverse events were reported at the longest follow-up (median 18.5 months)., Conclusions: IVL-assisted TF-TAVI may represent a feasible and safe option for patients presenting with severe aortic stenosis and severe calcified PAD. However, standardization of the access site severity as well as indications for a planned up-front IVL-assisted strategy are missing and require dedicated studies.

Aims: We sought to investigate the association of left atrial strain with the outcome in a large cohort of patients with at least moderate aortic stenosis (AS)., Methods and Results: We analysed 467 patients (mean age 80.6 ± 8.2 years; 51% men) with at least moderate AS and sinus rhythm. The primary study endpoint was the composite of all-cause mortality and hospitalizations for heart failure. After a median follow-up of 19.2 (inter-quartile range 12.5-24.4) months, 96 events occurred. Using the receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, the cut-off value of peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) more strongly associated with outcome was <16% {area under the curve (AUC) 0.70 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63-0.78], P < 0.001}. The Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated a higher rate of events for patients with PALS < 16% (log-rank P < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, PALS [adjusted HR (aHR) 0.95 (95% CI 0.91-0.99), P = 0.017] and age were the only variables independently associated with the combined endpoint. PALS provided incremental prognostic value over left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain, LV ejection fraction, and right ventricular function. Subgroup analysis revealed that impaired PALS was also independently associated with outcome in the subgroups of paucisymptomatic patients [aHR 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.98), P = 0.048], moderate AS [aHR 0.92, (95% CI 0.86-0.98), P = 0.016], and low-flow AS [aHR 0.90 (95% CI 0.83-0.98), P = 0.020]., Conclusion: In our patients with at least moderate AS, PALS was independently associated with outcome. In asymptomatic patients, PALS could be a potential marker of sub-clinical damage, leading to better risk stratification and, potentially, earlier treatment., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: D.S. and L.B. are members of the speaker bureaus of GE healthcare and Philips Medical Systems, and received research grants from GE Healthcare, Philips Medical Systems, TomTec Imaging Systems, and ESaOTE SpA. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Angiography-derived computational physiology is an appealing alternative to pressure-wire coronary physiology assessment. However, little is known about its reliability in the setting of severe aortic stenosis. This study sought to provide an integrated assessment of epicardial and microvascular coronary circulation by means of single-view angiography-derived physiology in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)., Methods: Pre-TAVI angiographic projections of 198 stenotic coronary arteries (123 patients) were analyzed by means of Murray's law-based quantitative flow ratio and angiography microvascular resistance. Wire-based reference measurements were available for comparison: fractional flow reserve (FFR) in all cases, instantaneous wave-free ratio in 148, and index of microvascular resistance in 42 arteries., Results: No difference in terms of the number of ischemia-causing stenoses was detected between FFR ≤0.80 and Murray's law-based quantitative flow ratio ≤0.80 (19.7% versus 19.2%; P =0.899), while this was significantly higher when instantaneous wave-free ratio ≤0.89 (44.6%; P =0.001) was used. The accuracy of Murray's law-based quantitative flow ratio ≤0.80 in predicting pre-TAVI FFR ≤0.80 was significantly higher than the accuracy of instantaneous wave-free ratio ≤0.89 (93.4% versus 77.0%; P =0.001), driven by a higher positive predictive value (86.9% versus 50%). Similar findings were observed when considering post-TAVI FFR ≤0.80 as reference. In 82 cases with post-TAVI angiographic projections, Murray's law-based quantitative flow ratio values remained stable, with a low rate of reclassification of stenosis significance (9.9%), similar to FFR and instantaneous wave-free ratio. Angiography microvascular resistance demonstrated a significant correlation (Rho=0.458; P =0.002) with index of microvascular resistance, showing an area under the curve of 0.887 (95% CI, 0.752-0.964) in predicting index of microvascular resistance ≥25., Conclusions: Angiography-derived physiology provides a valid, reliable, and systematic assessment of the coronary circulation in a complex scenario, such as severe aortic stenosis., Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr Tu is the cofounder of Pulse Medical, reports research grants and consultancy from Pulse Medical. Dr Wijns reports grants and consulting fees from MicroPort, outside the submitted work, and medical advisor of Corrib Core Laboratory and Rede Optimus, cofounder of Argonauts, an innovation facilitator. Dr Scarsini reports speaker fees from Abbott Vascular and research grant from Philips and Abbott. Dr Ribichini reports research grant from Philips and Abbott. The other authors report no conflicts.

Background: The optimal timing to perform percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) patients remains unknown., Aims: We sought to compare different PCI timing strategies in TAVI patients., Methods: The REVASC-TAVI registry is an international registry including patients undergoing TAVI with significant, stable coronary artery disease (CAD) at preprocedural workup. In this analysis, patients scheduled to undergo PCI before, after or concomitantly with TAVI were included. The main endpoints were all-cause death and a composite of all-cause death, stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) or rehospitalisation for congestive heart failure (CHF) at 2 years. Outcomes were adjusted using the inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) method., Results: A total of 1,603 patients were included. PCI was performed before, after or concomitantly with TAVI in 65.6% (n=1,052), 9.8% (n=157) or 24.6% (n=394), respectively. At 2 years, all-cause death was significantly lower in patients undergoing PCI after TAVI as compared with PCI before or concomitantly with TAVI (6.8% vs 20.1% vs 20.6%; p<0.001). Likewise, the composite endpoint was significantly lower in patients undergoing PCI after TAVI as compared with PCI before or concomitantly with TAVI (17.4% vs 30.4% vs 30.0%; p=0.003). Results were confirmed at landmark analyses considering events from 0 to 30 days and from 31 to 720 days., Conclusions: In patients with severe aortic stenosis and stable coronary artery disease scheduled for TAVI, performance of PCI after TAVI seems to be associated with improved 2-year clinical outcomes compared with other revascularisation timing strategies. These results need to be confirmed in randomised clinical trials.

Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Background: The best management of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is still unclear due to the marked inconsistency of the available evidence., Methods: The REVASC-TAVI registry (Management of Myocardial Revascularization in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation With Coronary Artery Disease) collected data from 30 centers worldwide on patients undergoing TAVI who had significant, stable CAD at preprocedural work-up. For the purposes of this analysis, patients with either complete or incomplete myocardial revascularization were compared in a propensity score matched analysis, to take into account of baseline confounders. The primary and co-primary outcomes were all-cause death and the composite of all-cause death, stroke, myocardial infarction, and rehospitalization for heart failure, respectively, at 2 years., Results: Among 2407 patients enrolled, 675 pairs of patients achieving complete or incomplete myocardial revascularization were matched. The primary (21.6% versus 18.2%, hazard ratio' 0.88 [95% CI, 0.66-1.18]; P =0.38) and co-primary composite (29.0% versus 27.1%, hazard ratio' 0.97 [95% CI, 0.76-1.24]; P =0.83) outcome did not differ between patients achieving complete or incomplete myocardial revascularization, respectively. These results were consistent across different prespecified subgroups of patients (< or >75 years of age, Society of Thoracic Surgeons score > or <4%, angina at baseline, diabetes, left ventricular ejection fraction > or <40%, New York Heart Association class I/II or III/IV, renal failure, proximal CAD, multivessel CAD, and left main/proximal anterior descending artery CAD; all P values for interaction >0.10)., Conclusions: The present analysis of the REVASC-TAVI registry showed that, among TAVI patients with significant stable CAD found during the TAVI work-up, completeness of myocardial revascularization achieved either staged or concomitantly with TAVI was similar to a strategy of incomplete revascularization in reducing the risk of all cause death, as well as the risk of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, and rehospitalization for heart failure at 2 years, regardless of the clinical and anatomical situations.

Background The impact of staged versus concomitant coronary procedures on renal function in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains unclear. Methods and Results Three-hundred thirty-nine patients undergoing coronary procedures and TAVI as a staged strategy (160, 47.2%) or concomitant strategy (179, 52.8%) were retrospectively analyzed. Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) occurred in 49 patients in the staged strategy group (30.6%) and in 18 patients (10.1%) in the concomitant strategy group ( P <0.001). Among the staged strategy group, 25 (15.6%) patients developed CI-AKI after coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention, 17 (10.6%) after TAVI, and 7 (4.3%) after both the procedures. Staged strategy was associated with a higher risk of CI-AKI (odds ratio, 3.948; P <0.001) after adjustment for multiple confounders and regardless of the baseline renal function ( P for interaction=0.4) when compared with the concomitant strategy. At a median follow-up of 24.0 months (3.0-35.3), CI-AKI was not associated with sustained renal injury ( P =0.794), irrespective of the adopted strategy. The concomitant strategy did not impact the overall early safety at 30 days follow-up after TAVI compared to the staged strategy ( P =0.609). Conclusions Performing coronary procedures with a staged strategy before TAVI was associated with a higher risk of CI-AKI compared with a concomitant strategy. Moreover, a concomitant strategy did not increase the risk of procedure-related complications.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common finding among patients undergoing trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), who often present severely calcified coronary lesions. Evidence is scarce about the use of rotational atherectomy (RA) in this setting, in particular regarding long-term outcome., Methods: RA was performed on severely calcified coronary lesions concomitant with TAVI in a consecutive series of patients treated between 2010 and 2020. Immediate and long-term clinical outcomes are reported., Results: A concomitant CAD (coronary stenosis visually > 50%) was observed in 402/845 (47.6%) consecutive patients undergoing TAVI at the University Hospital of Verona. Angioplasty was performed in 104 patients (12.3%). Among these, 19 patients (18.3%, 20 coronary arteries), were treated with RA after TAVI: 10 after implantation of a balloon-expandable trans-catheter valve and 9 after a self-expandable valve. All procedures were successful. Hypotension occurred in 3 patients (15.8%), with rapid recovery after the procedure; CI-AKI (contrast-induced acute kidney injury) in 3 patients (15.8%), of which two recovered within discharge. At a median follow-up of 21.5 months (Q1-3: 6-36) event free survival was 83.3%. Only one patient suffered a target vessel failure >2 years after RA. Neither stroke nor peri-procedural infarctions were detected., Conclusions: RA concomitant with TAVI was feasible and safe in patients treated with implantation of either self-expandable, or balloon-expandable trans-catheter aortic valves. Long-term clinical events related to the coronary procedure were extremely infrequent and the survival rate at median follow-up of 21.5 months was 83.3%.