Invasive assessment modalities of unprotected left main stenosis

Usefulness of SYNTAX score II in complex percutaneous coronary interventions in the setting of acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUND

SYNTAX score II (SS II) integrates anatomical SS with clinical characteristics allowing an individualized prediction of long-term mortality.

AIMS

We sought to assess to evaluate the usefulness of SS II in a real-world acute coronary syndromes (ACS) population with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODS

From August 2011 to May 2013, out of 1591 consecutive patients admitted for ACS, 217 (13.6%) showed severe CAD (three-vessel disease and/or left main involvement). Among the latter, 100 patients underwent PCI and were enrolled into the study. SS II was calculated in all patients. One-year clinical follow-up was performed; major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were defined as a composite of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, or repeat revascularization.

RESULTS

The median SS II was 29 (range, 14-59). Overall, MACCE occurred in 25% of patients (cardiac death 4%, myocardial infarction 4%, stroke 0%, and repeat revascularization 17%). The 1-year MACCE-free survival was significantly lower in patients with SS (⩾29), than in those with SS II (<29) (64.2% vs. 87.2%, respectively; p = 0.007). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, the presence of unprotected left main stenosis [hazard ratio 2.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-5.85; p = 0.031] and SS II ⩾29 (hazard ratio 2.74, 95% CI: 1.30-8.21; p = 0.011) were the only predictors of MACCE at 1-year clinical follow-up. The c-index of SS score II was 0.70 (95% CI: 0.58-0.81). For patients who experienced MACCE, the SS II reclassification improved by 36%, while in nonevent patients the reclassification improved by 22%. The net reclassification index was 0.24 (p = 0.09).

CONCLUSION

SS II might represent a useful tool to predict clinical events in not only ideal stable patients, but also an unrestricted, real world population of patients with ACS and severe CAD undergoing PCI.

The GuideLiner Catheter: A Useful Tool in the Armamentarium of the Interventional Cardiologist

Regardless of the clinical setting, a good back-up represents one of the most important conditions to ensure guide wire and balloon advancement and stent delivery. As a "mother and child" system, the GuideLiner catheter (Vascular Solutions Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) provides an extension to the guide catheter with better coaxial alignment and stability. We report two didactic cases showing the usefulness of the GuideLiner device in everyday catheterization laboratory practice. The first case was a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a 71-year-old diabetic man admitted for inferior ST-elevation myocardial infarction, related to tight proximal stenosis in a dominant tortuous and calcified left circumflex. The second case was an elective PCI in a 76-year-old man admitted for stable angina (Canadian Cardiovascular Society [CCS] class III), related to focal intra-stent restenosis of a saphenous venous graft to the left anterior descending. In both cases, the GuideLiner catheter provided a good back-up insuring the success of PCI and drug-eluting stents implantation, with a good in-hospital outcome.