Percutaneous treatment was linked to improved survival and fewer adverse events than surgery when patients presented with both symptomatic severe aortic stenosis and complex coronary artery disease. 

High-risk patients are often treated with medical therapy alone instead of revascularization. However, new data make it clear that these patients can live much longer when treated with PCI or CABG.

The heightened risks were even seen in women who were never diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. It remains unclear why the same trend was not seen in men.

Intravascular lithotripsy is still a safe and effective frontline preparation tool when PCI patients present with calcified nodules, a new two-year study confirmed. Researchers focused on stent expansion and luminal gain, among other key data points.

The Mediterranean diet, named after the traditional eating habits of Greece and Italy, was once again linked to multiple cardiovascular benefits. The focus of this latest meta-analysis was adults over the age of 60.

The pressure changes associated with contrast injections are minimal, researchers noted, especially once you move away from the tip of the catheter. 

SCAI celebrated cardiologists William W. O'Neill, MD, and Cindy L. Grines, MD, for the important roles they played in the development of primary PCI. “It was challenging,” Grines explained. “We had the pharmaceutical industry that was anti-primary angioplasty and we had a lot of our own colleagues that were anti-primary angioplasty."

PCI can be more challenging in high-risk patients presenting with diabetes and ACS. IVUS guidance was associated with improved outcomes among these patients compared to angiography guidance alone.