Intravascular lithotripsy compared to rotational atherectomy for the treatment of calcified distal left main coronary artery disease: A single center experience.

The safety and efficacy of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) for the treatment of calcified distal left main (LM) disease remains unclear, especially compared to rotational atherectomy (RA). We retrospectively analyzed the baseline clinical, angiographic, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) characteristics and procedural outcomes of 107 patients who underwent distal LM percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with IVL (with or without adjunct atherectomy) versus RA alone for plaque modification before stenting at a single center between 2020 and 2022. A total of 50 patients underwent calcium modification with IVL with or without adjunct atherectomy and 57 with RA only. The mean age was 73 years and with a high prevalence of diabetes (58.9%), chronic kidney disease (42.1%), prior revascularization (coronary artery bypass graft surgery [36.4%] or prior PCI [32.7%]). Acute coronary syndrome was the primary indication for PCI in over 50% of the patients in both groups. Medina 1-1-1 LM bifurcation disease was identified in 64% and 60% of the IVL and RA groups (p = 0.64) respectively. Final minimum stent area in distal LM (>8.2 mm2 ), ostial LAD (>6.3 mm2 ) and ostial LCX (>5.0 mm2 ) were achieved in 96%, 85% and 89% of cases treated with IVL respectively and 93%, 93% and 100% of cases treated with RA respectively (LM p = 1.00; LAD p = 0.62; LCX; p = 1.00 for difference between the two groups). Procedural success (technical success without in-hospital major adverse events) was achieved in 98% of the IVL group and 86% of the RA-only group (p = 0.04). There were eight procedural complications (flow-limiting dissection, perforation, or slow/no-reflow) in the RA group compared to four in the IVL group (NS), and one patient in the RA required salvaged mechanical support compared to none in the IVL group. Plaque modification with coronary IVL appears to be efficacious and safe for the treatment of severely calcified distal LM lesions compared to RA only. Larger randomized studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Sandesara PB ，Elhage Hassan M ，Shekiladze N ，Turk AA ，Montrivade S ，Gold D ，Kindya B ，Rinfret S ，Nicholson WJ ，Jaber WA ... -  《-》

Coronary intravascular lithotripsy in contemporary practice: challenges and opportunities in coronary intervention.

Gupta A ，Shrivastava A ，Dugal JS ，Chhikara S ，Vijayvergiya R ，Singh N ，Mehta AC ，Mahesh NK ，Swamy A ... -  《-》

Comparison of intravascular lithotripsy versus rotational atherectomy for the treatment of severe coronary artery calcification.

Calcified lesions are one of the most challenging cases for PCI, where optimal angiographic results and satisfying outcomes are hard to achieve. We evaluated the baseline clinical, procedures characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe coronary artery calcification (CAC) who underwent coronary intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) and rotational atherectomy (RA). Respectively 152 and 238 patients who underwent IVL and RA are enrolled from January 2023 to November 2023. Regarding demographic characteristics, the gender proportion, medical history of PCI and smoke history among groups reach statistical significance. Left anterior descending and right coronary artery were the main vessels treated in both groups. The 2.5 and 3.0 mm IVL balloons and 1.5 mm burr were the most commonly used. 99.3% cases were successfully implanted drug-eluting stents after IVL balloon pre-treatment, which was higher than in the group treated with RA. During hospitalization, there were no serious adverse events in the IVL group, but there were two adverse events in the RA group. Procedural complications were higher in the RA group than the IVL group (5.5% vs. 0.7%, P = 0.027). IVL appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of severe CAC lesions compared to RA.

Zhao Y ，Wang P ，Zheng Z ，Shi Y ，Liu J ... -  《BMC Cardiovascular Disorders》

Physiological and angiographic outcomes of PCI in calcified lesions after rotational atherectomy or intravascular lithotripsy.

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in calcified coronary artery lesions are associated with impaired stent expansion, higher rate of periprocedural complications and cardiac mortality. Lesion preparation using calcium modifying techniques such as Rotational Atherectomy (RA) or Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) has been advocated. Studies comparing these technologies are lacking. We aimed to compare in-stent pressure gradients, evaluated by vessel fractional flow reserve (vFFR), in calcific lesions treated using either RA or IVL. Patients undergoing either RA- or IVL-assisted PCI from two European centers were included. Propensity score matching (1:2) was performed to control for potential bias. Primary outcome was post-PCI in-stent pressure gradients calculated by vFFR (vFFRgrad). Secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients with complete functional revascularization defined as distal vFFR post-PCI (vFFRpost) ≥ 0.90. From a cohort of 210 patients, 105 matched patients (70 RA and 35 IVL) were included. Pre-PCI vFFR did not differ between groups (0.65 ± 0.13 RA and 0.67 ± 0.11 IVL). After PCI, in-stent pressure gradients were significantly lower in the IVL group (0.032 ± 0.026 vs 0.043 ± 0.026 in the RA group, p = 0.024). The proportions of vessels with functional complete revascularization was similar between the two groups (32.9% vs. 37.1% in the RA and IVL group, respectively; p = 0.669). Calcific lesions preparation with IVL is effective and resulted in lower in-stent pressure gradients compared to RA. Approximately one third of the patients undergoing PCI for a severely calcified lesion achieved functional revascularization with no difference between rotational RA and IVL.

Gallinoro E ，Monizzi G ，Sonck J ，Candreva A ，Mileva N ，Nagumo S ，Munhoz D ，Buytaert D ，Mastrangelo A ，Andreini D ，Galli S ，Bartorelli AL ，Barbato E ，De Bruyne B ，Collet C ... -  《-》

Complementary Utility of Intravascular Lithotripsy With Atherectomy for Severely Calcified Coronary Stenoses in Contemporary Practice.

Takahashi T ，Menegus M ，Choi H ，Bliagos D ，Assafin M ，Rauch J ，Johnson M ，Greenberg M ，Khaliq A ，Scotti A ，Latib A ... -  《-》