Side Branch Intervention Research Articles

Predictors of long-term outcomes of coronary bifurcation stenting: 6-year results from international, randomized POLBOS I and POLBOS II clinical trials

Abstract Introduction Bifurcation lesions pose a therapeutic challenge during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Results of regular drug-eluting stents (rDESs) in bifurcation treatment are not optimal. Purpose The aim of this study was to analyze the 6-year follow-up of BiOSS (Balton, Poland) stents in patients enrolled into two randomized clinical trials POLBOS I (NCT02192840) and POLBOS II NCT02198300). Methods The BiOSS stent is a coronary dedicated bifurcation balloon expandable stent made of 316L stainless steel and coated with a biodegradable polymer as well as the drug. The stent consists of two parts with different diameters connected with two struts of 1.9 - 2.5 mm length each. The aim of randomized POLBOS trials was to compare the BiOSS stents with regular drug eluting stents (rDES) in patients with stable CAD or NSTE-ACS (POLBOS I: paclitaxel eluting BiOSS Expert vs rDES; POLBOS II: sirolimus eluting BiOSS LIM vs rDES). Provisional T-stenting was the default strategy. Angiographic control was performed at 12 months in all patients. The primary end-point was composed MACE defined as cardiac death, myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization (TLR). Clinical assessment was performed every year after index procedure. Results In POLBOS I trial BiOSS Expert was implanted in 120 patients (49.4%), and rDES was implanted in 123 patients. The target vessel was the left anterior descending (LAD) artery (52% vs 70%) followed by the left main stem (LMS) coronary artery (22% vs 15%). In rDES group, 38.2% of patients received paclitaxel-eluting stents. Side branch treatment with rDES was required in 10% of cases in both groups. At 12 months, the incidence of cumulative major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) was similar in both groups: 13.3% vs 12.2% (P=0.7). The TLR rate was significantly higher in the BiOSS Expert group compared with rDES group (11.5% vs 7.3%; P=0.02). Significantly lower rates of restenosis were observed in final kissing balloon (FKB) subgroups of both the BiOSS Expert (8.1% vs 13.2%; P<0.05) and rDES groups (4.9% vs 9.5%; P<0.05). In POLBOS II 202 patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to treatment of the coronary bifurcation lesions either with the BiOSS LIM stent (n=102) or with rDES (n=100). The target vessel was the LAD (44% vs 43%) followed by the LMS (35.3% vs 38%). Side branch treatment was required in 8.8% (rDES) and 7% (BiOSS). At 12 months, the cumulative MACE incidence was similar in both groups (11.8% [BiOSS] vs. 15% [rDES, p=0.08]), as was the TLR rate (9.8% vs. 9% [p=0.8]). The binary restenosis rates were significantly lower in the FKBI subgroup of the BiOSS group (5.9% vs. 11.8%, p<0.05). At the time of ESC Congress 2020 we will present data from 6-year follow-up from POLBOS I trial and POLBOS II trial focusing on LM stenting and patients with diabetes. Conclusions BiOSS® stents provided satisfactory 1-year results which seemed comparable with rDES. Long-term data are pending. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Comparison of fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio for the hemodynamic assessment of jailed side branches in bifurcation stenting

Abstract Background Provisional side-branch stenting strategy is one of the preferred strategies for treatment of bifurcation lesions. Whereas using fraction flow reserve (FFR) for the physiologic assessment of jailed side branches is well studied, the reliability of resting indices such as instantaneous wave free ratio (iFR) is unknown. Methods Consecutive patients with provisional stenting of a bifurcation and a jailed side branch were enrolled in this study. FFR and iFR were measured and, after assuring absence of baseline shift and drift, both measurements were repeated after 3 minutes. Hyperemia was induced by intra-coronary adenosine with a dose of 48μg for the right coronary artery and 96μg for the left coronary artery. Cut-off for the assumed functional significance of a stenosis was 0.80 for FFR and 0.89 for iFR. The decision to treat the side branch was left to the interventionalist's discretion. Results 37 jailed side branches in 36 patients (age 68.4±8.2; male 81% (n=29)) were consecutively enrolled in the study. The main vessel was the left main in 3% (n=1), the left anterior descending (LAD) in 65% (n=24), the diagonal branch (D1) in 3% (n=1), the left circumflex artery (LCX) in 24% (n=9) and the right coronary artery (RCA) in 5% (n=2). The Medina classification revealed true bifurcation stenosis defined as Medina 1–1-1 prior to treatment in 35% (n=13). FFR showed 35% (n=13) of the stenosis to be functionally significant with a high reproducibility of the results (r=0.986). FFR showed a low correlation with angiographic assessment (r=−0.477). iFR indicated hemodynamic relevance in 38% of lesions (n=14) with a high reproducibility (r=0.967) and also correlated poorly with angiographic assessment (r=−0.271). iFR was found to closely correlate with FFR in jailed side branches (r=0.720, Figure 1A). Bland-Altman analysis showed iFR and FFR agreed with a mean difference between FFR and iFR of −0.054±0.146. In 81% (n=30) FFR and iFR showed the same results regarding functional significance. In 8% (n=3) FFR was ≤0.80 and iFR >0.89, in 11% (n=4) FFR was >0.80 and iFR was ≤0.89 (Figure 1B). Side branch treatment was performed in 32% (n=12). All of these lesions showed functional significance in FFR or iFR. Stent implantation was performed in 8% (n=3), balloon angioplasty in 19% (n=7) and balloon angioplasty with a drug-eluting balloon in 5% (n=2). Conclusions The results of this study confirm the poor correlation of angiographic and functional assessment of coronary artery stenoses. Our data show close agreement of iFR and FFR in stent-jailed side branches. Therefore, iFR can be considered as a reliable technique for guidance of provisional side branch stenting. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Percutaneous coronary intervention for bifurcation coronary lesions: the 15th consensus document from the European Bifurcation Club.

The 15th European Bifurcation Club (EBC) meeting was held in Barcelona in October 2019. It facilitated a renewed consensus on coronary bifurcation lesions (CBL) and unprotected left main (LM) percutaneous interventions. Bifurcation stenting techniques continue to be refined, developed and tested. It remains evident that a provisional approach with optional side branch treatment utilising T, T and small protrusion (TAP) or culotte continues to provide flexible options for the majority of CBL patients. Debate persists regarding the optimal treatment of side branches, including assessment of clinical significance and thresholds for bail-out treatment. In more complex CBL, especially those involving the LM, adoption of dedicated two-stent techniques should be considered. Operators using such techniques have to be fully familiar with their procedural steps and should acknowledge associated limitations and challenges. When using two-stent techniques, failure to perform a final kissing inflation is regarded as a technical failure, since it may jeopardise clinical outcome. The development of novel technical tools and drug regimens deserves attention. In particular, intracoronary imaging, bifurcation simulation, drug-eluting balloon technology and tailored antiplatelet therapy have been identified as promising tools to enhance clinical outcomes. In conclusion, the evolution of a broad spectrum of bifurcation PCI components has resulted from studies extending from bench testing to randomised controlled trials. However, further advances are still needed to achieve the ambitious goal of optimising the clinical outcomes for every patient undergoing PCI on a CBL.

Estrategia óptima para el tratamiento de lesiones en bifurcación del tronco coronario izquierdo

Introduction and objectivesThere are no guidelines regarding the most appropriate approach for provisional side branch (SB) intervention in left main (LM) bifurcation lesions. MethodsThe present prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter trial compared conservative vs aggressive strategies for provisional SB intervention during LM bifurcation treatment. Although the trial was designed to enroll 700 patients, it was prematurely terminated due to slow enrollment. For 160 non-true bifurcation lesions, a 1-stent technique without kissing balloon inflation was applied in the conservative strategy, whereas a 1-stent technique with mandatory kissing balloon inflation was applied in the aggressive strategy. For 46 true bifurcation lesions, a stepwise approach was applied in the conservative strategy (after main vessel stenting, SB ballooning when residual stenosis> 75%; then, SB stenting if residual stenosis> 50% or there was a dissection). An elective 2-stent technique was applied in the aggressive strategy. The primary outcome was a 1-year target lesion failure (TLF) composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization. ResultsAmong non-true bifurcation lesions, the conservative strategy group used a smaller amount of contrast dye than the aggressive strategy group. There were no significant differences in 1-year TLF between the 2 strategies among non-true bifurcation lesions (6.5% vs 4.9%; HR, 1.31; 95%CI, 0.35-4.88; P=.687) and true bifurcation lesions (17.6% vs 21.7%; HR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.20-2.83; P=.683). ConclusionsIn patients with a LM bifurcation lesion, conservative and aggressive strategies for a provisional SB approach have similar 1-year TLF rates.

Impact of stent designs of second-generation drug-eluting stents on long-term outcomes in coronary bifurcation lesions.

We compared the long-term clinical outcomes of four different types of second-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) in coronary bifurcation lesions. Clinical outcomes of different designs of second-generation DESs are not well known in bifurcation lesions. Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with second-generation DESs for coronary bifurcation lesion were enrolled from 21 centers in South Korea. A total of 2,526 patients was evaluated and divided into four treatment groups according to DES type: bioabsorbable polymer biolimus-eluting stent (BP-BES group, n=514), platinum chromium everolimus-eluting stent (PtCr-EES group, n=473), cobalt nickel zotarolimus-eluting stent (CoNi-ZES group, n=736), or cobalt chromium everolimus-eluting stent (CoCr-EES group, n=803). Primary outcome was target lesion failure (TLF, defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was performed to reduce selection bias and potential confounding factors. For 5 years of follow-up, the rates of TLF among the four DES groups were not significantly different (6.2% for BP-BES group, 8.2% for PtCr-EES group, 6.5% for CoNi-ZES group, and 8.6% for CoCr-EES group, p=.434). The results were consistent after IPTW adjustment (6.8, 8.4, 6.0, and 7.5%, respectively, p=.554). In subgroup analysis, the similarity of long-term outcomes among the four different types of second-generation DES was consistent across subgroups regardless of side branch treatment (p for interaction=.691). There seems to be no significant difference in long-term clinical outcomes among patients who received different types of second-generation DES for coronary bifurcation lesion.

Optimal strategy for side branch treatment in patients with left main coronary bifurcation lesions

Introduction and objectivesThere are no guidelines regarding the most appropriate approach for provisional side branch (SB) intervention in left main (LM) bifurcation lesions. MethodsThe present prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter trial compared conservative vs aggressive strategies for provisional SB intervention during LM bifurcation treatment. Although the trial was designed to enroll 700 patients, it was prematurely terminated due to slow enrollment. For 160 non-true bifurcation lesions, a 1-stent technique without kissing balloon inflation was applied in the conservative strategy, whereas a 1-stent technique with mandatory kissing balloon inflation was applied in the aggressive strategy. For 46 true bifurcation lesions, a stepwise approach was applied in the conservative strategy (after main vessel stenting, SB ballooning when residual stenosis> 75%; then, SB stenting if residual stenosis> 50% or there was a dissection). An elective 2-stent technique was applied in the aggressive strategy. The primary outcome was a 1-year target lesion failure (TLF) composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization. ResultsAmong non-true bifurcation lesions, the conservative strategy group used a smaller amount of contrast dye than the aggressive strategy group. There were no significant differences in 1-year TLF between the 2 strategies among non-true bifurcation lesions (6.5% vs 4.9%; HR, 1.31; 95%CI, 0.35-4.88; P=.687) and true bifurcation lesions (17.6% vs 21.7%; HR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.20-2.83; P=.683). ConclusionsIn patients with a LM bifurcation lesion, conservative and aggressive strategies for a provisional SB approach have similar 1-year TLF rates.

Percutaneous management of coronary bifurcation lesions: current perspective.

Coronary artery disease affecting bifurcations poses a challenge for percutaneous intervention. Several techniques and strategies for percutaneous management of bifurcation lesions have been described in the literature with variable data available for outcomes. In this review, we provide an overview of the strategies and techniques used for percutaneous intervention of bifurcation lesions with an update of recent technical developments and clinical evidence. The coronary bifurcation lesions of both left main and other coronary segments are best treated with a provisional stenting strategy where main branch is treated with a stent placement and side branch intervention reserved for angiographically or physiologically determined hemodynamically significant residual stenosis despite application of a proximal stent optimization technique. When a provisional stent strategy is not likely to be successful due to anatomic or morphologic lesion characteristics and a large side branch or distal left main bifurcation is involved, an upfront bifurcation stenting strategy with double kissing crush technique may provide the optimum results. Coronary imaging and fractional flow determination may guide lesion specific management, facilitate device selection and improve clinical outcomes for percutaneous therapy for bifurcation lesions. Despite advances in technology and procedural techniques, percutaneous intervention of coronary bifurcation lesions remains challenging and associated with higher adverse outcomes compared to non bifurcation lesions. Among the several bifurcation strategies, a provisional stenting approach is preferred for technical simplicity and better long term outcomes. Double kissing crush technique provides superior clinical results and should be preferred when a two stent strategy is indicated. Use of coronary imaging and physiology assessment should be incorporated in the algorithm of bifurcation interventions for greater technical and clinical success.

Drug-coated balloons: Technical and clinical progress.

The advancement of drug-coated balloons (DCB) presents an alternative nonstent method in the percutaneous treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. While the current generation of drug-eluting stents (DES) are the device of choice, especially in coronary artery disease (CAD), DCB has potential applications in the treatment of de novo lesions, in-stent restenosis (ISR), bifurcations, and in peripheral artery disease (PAD). In terms of coronary clinical experience, DCB is used most in ISR scenarios and more data are collected to support the use of DCB in de novo lesions compared to best-in-class DES. The use of DCB in bifurcation side branch treatment has demonstrated safety, and with good angiographic and clinical outcomes, but more data from randomized trials will be required to assess its clinical value. For PAD, the clinical outcomes of DCB with and without debulking devices in diseased femoropopliteal arteries and treatment of below-the-knee (BTK) vessels with DCB are discussed. Current data demonstrated conflicting long-term safety outcomes in the use of paclitaxel devices in the femoral and/or popliteal arteries, while the role of DCB in BTK disease remains uncertain due to a lack of randomized controlled trial data. In summary, this review provides an overall view of current DCB technologies and progress, followed by an update on DCB clinical data in the treatment of CAD and PAD.

Impact of Side-Branch Predilation on Angiographic Outcomes in Non-Left Main Coronary Bifurcation Lesions.

Despite the high prevalence of coronary bifurcation lesions in routine interventional cardiology practice, the best strategy for managing this challenging lesion subset remains debatable. Due to potential for complications, the routine practice of side-branch (SB) predilation is controversial. An electronic search was performed of online databases up until April 2018 for studies reporting periprocedural angiographic outcomes comparing provisional main-branch stenting with and without SB predilation. Random-effects model odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Eight studies were selected for a qualitative review, with 47.3% (1367/2890) of included subjects having angiographic outcomes following SB predilation reported. Of these, four studies included details of periangiographic outcomes comparing two groups. Bifurcation lesions stented without SB predilation demonstrated lower odds of requiring further SB intervention compared with lesions receiving upfront SB predilation (OR, 2.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-3.47; I²=21%; P<.001). No difference was demonstrated regarding final SB TIMI flow <3, SB dissection, or intraprocedural SB occlusion. Although the odds of performing final kissing-balloon inflation were in favor of the group without SB predilation (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.11-2.37; I²=61%; P=.01), there was no statistical difference in long-term major cardiovascular outcome (MACE) between the two groups (risk ratio, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.94-1.75; I²=11%; P=.33). SB predilation during coronary bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention did not alter overall procedural angiographic outcomes. However, SB predilation is associated with increased SB intervention, including increased requirement for SB stenting, without demonstrable long-term MACE benefit, compared with a standard strategy without SB predilation.

Left internal mammary artery side branch intervention in the management of coronary steal syndrome following coronary artery bypass grafting.

The objective of this qualitative review is to summarize the pathophysiological and clinical data behind the clinical entity of left internal mammary artery (LIMA) side branch coronary steal as well as the potential diagnostic and therapeutic modalities available. The presence of persistent unligated LIMA side branches following coronary artery bypass grafting has previously been associated with stable angina and acute coronary syndromes. However, despite numerous attempts to objectively demonstrate a coronary steal phenomenon, the pathophysiology of LIMA side branch flow diversion remains elusive and the clinical utility of intervention is not well elucidated. A review of literature and available data including case reports, case series, and investigational studies was performed. Therapeutic closure of LIMA side branches has been reported in at least 44 patients and in at least 31 publications since 1990 and is associated with an 87.5% rate of freedom from angina amongst technically successful initial interventions. In all patients with pre- and post- stress testing, intervention was associated with an improvement and/or resolution of previously observed reversible ischemia. LIMA side branch coronary steal should remain an ongoing consideration in symptomatic patients with large unligated side branches on angiography, particularly when there is clear evidence of reversible ischemic on perfusion imaging.

TCT-69 A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Optimal Strategy for Side Branch Treatment in Patients With Left Main Coronary Bifurcation Lesion (SMART-STRATEGY II)

The appropriate approach for provisional side branch (SB) intervention has not been established in left main (LM) bifurcation lesions. This study compared conservative and aggressive strategies for provisional SB intervention in LM bifurcation lesions. A total of 206 patients with LM bifurcation

5-Year Outcomes According to FFR of Left Circumflex Coronary Artery After Left Main Crossover Stenting

ObjectivesThe aim of the current study was to evaluate the long-term clinical impact of fractional flow reserve (FFR) in jailed left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) after left main coronary artery (LM) simple crossover stenting. BackgroundAlthough the provisional side-branch intervention with FFR guidance has been validated for non-LM bifurcation lesions, the outcome of such a strategy in LM bifurcation disease is not well-known. MethodsPatients who underwent LM-to–left anterior descending coronary artery simple crossover stenting and who had FFR measurements in the LCx thereafter were enrolled. A low FFR was defined as ≤0.80. The clinical outcomes were assessed by the 5-year rate of target lesion failure (TLF) (a composite of cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization). ResultsIn 83 patients, the mean FFR of the LCx after LM stenting was 0.87 ± 0.08, and 14 patients (16.9%) had a low FFR. There was no correlation between the FFR and angiographic % diameter stenosis in jailed LCx (R2 = 0.039; p = 0.071) and there was no difference in the angiographic % diameter stenosis in the high and low FFR groups. At 5 years, the low FFR group had a significantly higher rate of TLF than the high FFR group (33.4% vs. 10.7%; hazard ratio: 4.09, 95% confidence interval: 1.15 to 14.52; p = 0.029). However, there was no difference in the clinical outcomes according to the angiographic % diameter stenosis. In a multivariate analysis, a low FFR was an independent predictor of the risk for a 5-year TLF (hazard ratio: 6.49; 95% confidence interval: 1.37 to 30.73; p = 0.018). ConclusionsThe patients with a high FFR in jailed LCx had better 5-year outcomes than those with a low FFR. The FFR measurement in jailed LCx can be helpful in selecting an adequate treatment strategy and may reduce unnecessary complex procedures.

Predictors of side branch compromise in calcified bifurcation lesions treated with orbital atherectomy.

The aim of the study was to identify the predictors of side branch (SB) compromise in severely calcified bifurcation lesions treated with orbital atherectomy (OA). SB compromise remains a major complication of bifurcation lesion percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Higher prevalence of lipid-rich plaques and spotty calcification by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and SB ostial stenosis by angiography have been previously suggested as predictors of SB occlusion after main vessel (MV) stenting. Patients with chronic stable angina and severely calcified bifurcation lesions, in whom provisional stenting strategy was planned, were enrolled in the study. OA was used for lesion preparation in all cases. OCT imaging of the MV was performed before and after stenting. SB compromise was defined as a composite of SB occlusion (TIMI flow grade ≤ 2) and SB intervention after MV stenting. Thirty stable CAD patients with 30 severely calcified bifurcation lesions were included in the study. Twelve patients (40%) had a compromised SB after MV stenting. Compromised SB was characterized by a greater angiographic diameter stenosis (55.4 ± 8.1% vs. 35.0 ± 14.4%, P < 0.01) and a smaller minimal lumen diameters (0.79 ± 0.17 vs. 1.12 ± 0.30 mm, P = 0.002) before PCI compared to noncompromised SB. The prevalence of OCT lipid-rich plaques was low and did not differ between the groups (18 vs. 19%, P = 0.68). There was no difference in other OCT plaque characteristics including the presence of spotty calcification. The severity of SB ostial disease and not MV plaque morphology contributed to SB compromise in severely calcified bifurcation lesions.

Concept and practice of transradial 5 French percutaneous treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions.

To assess the efficacy and safety of transradial 5 French percutaneous treatment of coronary bifurcations using conventional devices. Radial artery is smaller than femoral artery, and its size may potentially limit transradial intervention, especially when coronary anatomy is not known. Patients with bifurcations lesions undergoing transradial 5 French ad hoc revascularization were treated according to provisional side branch (SB) stenting followed by the POT-SB dilation-final POT sequence. Only conventional devices were used. Overall, 80 patients (58 men, 65 ± 10 years) were enrolled. True bifurcations accounted for 64% of cases, with the left anterior descending artery/diagonal branch being the most frequent bifurcation site (n = 37, 46%) and left main coronary artery bifurcation being treated in 6 (8%) patients. Angiographic success was achieved in 78 (97.5%) patients through a 5 French guiding catheter whereas in two cases, a 5-6 French guiding catheter upgrade was required to optimize SB treatment after the main bifurcation vessel have been secured. Overall, procedural success was achieved in all but one patient who had periprocedural necrosis following multivessel PCI. Another patient underwent target bifurcation revascularization because of a critical restenosis in a significant SB yielding an acute coronary syndrome five months after the index procedure. This study demonstrates the feasibility of transradial 5 French bifurcation intervention with nondedicated devices and preliminary supports its efficacy and safety over a wide range of bifurcation anatomy and complexity.

TCT-412 Side Branch Intervention for Non-Left Main True Bifurcation Lesions: Pooled Analysis of Korean Multicenter Drug-Eluting Stent Cohort

Treating true coronary bifurcation lesions is a challenge for many intervention cardiologists. Although some studies have shown that a two-stent approach is not different from a single-stent approach, there lacks long term data. We investigated the long term outcome of side branch intervention for

TCT-411 Comparison of the strategies for side branch intervention according to Fractional Flow reserve in coronary bifurcation lesions

TCT-411 Comparison of the strategies for side branch intervention according to Fractional Flow reserve in coronary bifurcation lesions

125Randomised comparison of conservative versus aggressive strategy for provisional side branch intervention in coronary bifurcation lesions

125Randomised comparison of conservative versus aggressive strategy for provisional side branch intervention in coronary bifurcation lesions

Drug-Coated Balloons: Technologies and Clinical Applications.

The progress and development of drug-coated balloons (DCBs) represents an emerging alternative treatment in peripheral and coronary artery diseases, particularly when a non-stent approach is necessary. Several studies and meta-analyses have evaluated the clinical outcomes of DCBs in different lesions and this review aims to compile the progress and updated clinical data of DCB strategy in both peripheral artery diseases (PAD) and coronary artery diseases (CAD). The review highlights that clinical data has encouraged the use of DCB for applications in PAD and in the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR). The employment of DCB in side branch treatment of bifurcation lesions has been reported to be feasible and safe, with good angiographic and clinical outcome. The use of DCB for arteriovenous fistula and grafts stenoses is a promising strategy, but more clinical data is required to draw reliable conclusions. The limitations and impact of the current generation of DCBs will be discussed and the clinical development of newer generation of the device is also covered in this review.

Physiological evaluation of the provisional side-branch intervention strategy for bifurcation lesions using instantaneous wave-free ratio

BackgroundThe provisional side-branch intervention strategy remains the gold standard approach for repair of coronary bifurcation lesions. We performed this study to evaluate the clinical and functional outcomes of using the instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) for physiological assessment in provisional side-branch repair of bifurcation lesions. MethodsFifty patients with coronary bifurcation lesions were equally divided into two groups: (I) an iFR-guided side-branch intervention group and (II) a conventional group, in which the operator selected a different interventional method. After the procedure, we performed a six-month follow-up for postoperative ejection fraction (EF) and clinical cardiac outcomes. ResultsOur results showed that the iFR measurement procedure was technically feasible in bifurcation lesions, with no procedural-related complications. Moreover, measuring iFR significantly predicted the side-branch percent stenosis after stenting of the main branch (r = −0.81, p < 0.0001). Compared to the conventional group, the iFR-guided group showed a significantly shorter procedural time (MD = −14.6 min, 95% CI [−27.7, −1.4]) and hospital stay duration (MD = −0.92 days, 95% CI [−1.6, −0.28]). However, no significant differences were recorded between the iFR-guided and conventional groups in terms of postoperative EF (p = 0.9), six-month heart failure class (p = 0.89), or post-interventional angina (p = 0.066). ConclusionUsing iFR for physiological assessment during the provisional side-branch intervention strategy can reduce the procedural time and length of hospital stay in patients with bifurcation lesions. Larger trials should compare the clinical outcomes of iFR to other physiological assessment methods such as the fractional flow reserve (FFR) in patients with coronary bifurcation lesions.ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02785510

Six months outcome in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for true bifurcation lesions without side branch stenting

Context: Bifurcation lesions is one of the most challenging lesions in interventional cardiology. The optimal management is still a debate. Provisional stenting is preferred approach at present, yet with higher major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) than other lesions. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate outcome in patients with true coronary bifurcation lesion undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting of the main vessel without side branch (SB) intervention. Design: This was prospective observational study. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted in patients with stable angina or unstable angina or non ST elevation MI (NSTEMI) attributable to a de novo true coronary bifurcation lesion involving the main vessel and SB. The main vessel diameter has to be ≥≥2.5 mm and the SB has to be ≥≥2.25 mm by visual estimate. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was performed using statistical software package SPSS v22.0. Results: Fifty-three consecutive patients of true bifurcation lesions were studied. They underwent main vessel stenting and were followed up for 6 months. Mean age of 54.9 ± 8.4 was studied, 66% were male, 45.3% were single-vessel disease, left anterior descending (LAD)-diagonal was the most common (43.4%) target bifurcation lesion, most common medina class was 1,1,1 (43.4%). On 6 months follow-up, total MACE events were 12 (22.6%), most were contributed by Target lesion revascularization (TLR) 11 (20.75%). The MACE were significantly associated with diabetes and the extend of coronary artery disease.. Conclusions: Simple stenting strategy in true bifurcation lesions is associated with high MACE events. Further studies dedicated to true coronary bifurcation lesions are required to look for best strategy for these lesions.