Background and ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the extent of coronary artery disease assessed by the Gensini score and/or the SYNTAX score and the significant carotid stenosis in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).Subjects and MethodsA total of 225 patients who had carotid doppler ultrasonography prior to CABG were included retrospectively. Significant coronary artery disease was assumed as a lumen diameter stenosis of ≥50% in any of the major epicardial coronary arteries. The severity of carotid stenosis was determined by B-mode and duplex ultrasonography. Clinically significant carotid stenosis was defined as peak systolic velocity greater than 125 cm/s.ResultsThe mean value of SYNTAX score and Gensini score was highest in patients allocated to significant carotid stenosis (22.98±7.32, p<0.001 and 77.40±32.35, p<0.001, respectively). The other risk factors for significant carotid stenosis were found to be male gender (p=0.029), carotid bruit (p<0.001), diabetes (p=0.021), left main disease (p=0.002), 3-vessel disease (p=0.008), chronic total coronary occlusion (p=0.001), and coronary artery calcification (p=0.001) in univariate analysis. However, only the Gensini score (odds ratio[OR]=1.030, p=0.004), carotid bruit (OR=0.068, p<0.001), and male gender (OR=0.190, p=0.003) were the independent predictors. The Gensini score cut off value predicting significant carotid stenosis was 50.5 with 77% sensitivity (p<0.001).ConclusionThe Gensini score may be used to identify patients at high risk for significant carotid stenosis prior to CABG.

Recently, longitudinal stent deformation (LSD) has been reported increasingly. Even though the reported cases included almost all stent designs, most cases were seen in the Element™ stent design (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA). It is considered that stent design, lesion and procedural characteristics play a role in the etiology of LSD. Yet, the effect of LSD on long-term clinical outcomes has not been studied well. Element stents implanted between January 2013 and April 2015 in our hospital were examined retrospectively. Patients were grouped into two according to the presence of LSD, and their clinical, lesion and procedural characteristics were studied. Twenty-four LSD's were detected in 1812 Element stents deployed in 1314 patients (1.83 % of PCI cases and 1.32 % of all Element stents). LMCA lesions (16.7 % vs 1.6 %, p < 0.001), complex lesions (75 % vs 35.1 %, p < 0.001), bifurcation lesions (37.5 % vs 18.3 %, p = 0.017), ostial lesions (33.3 % vs 12.8 %, p = 0.003), using of extra-support guiding catheter (54.2 % vs 22.3 %, p < 0.001) and extra-support guidewire (37.5 % vs 16.2 %, p = 0.005) were found to be more frequent in cases with LSD than in cases without it. In addition, the number of stents, stent inflation pressure and the use of post-dilatation were significantly different between the two groups. Two patients had an adverse event during the follow-up period. LSD is a rarely encountered complication, and is more common in complex lesions such as ostial, bifurcation and LMCA lesions. The use of extra-support guiding catheter, extra-support guidewires and low stent inflation pressure increases the occurrence of LSD. Nevertheless, with increased awareness of LSD and proper treatment, unwanted long-term outcomes can be successfully prevented.

RVEIO index is a useful, simple, accurate, and independent predictor of severe TR that adds incrementally to traditional methods of quantifying TR severity. Accurate quantification and classification of TR severity is critical for clinical decision-making and management; therefore, the incorporation of RVEIO index into the integrative approach to grading TR severity should be considered.

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Introduction Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a cardiothoracic thromboembolic emergency at risk of life‐threatening. Several risk graduation algorithms may be applied to delineate short‐term mortality in patients with APE. In this study, we aim to depict the relationship between the right ventricular early inflow‐outflow (RVEIO) index, which is a Doppler‐based parameter, and the pulmonary embolism severity index(PESI) in acute pulmonary embolism. Methods In the presented study, a total of 160 patients who were diagnosed with APE using pulmonary computed tomography angiography or ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy were comprised. Patients were separated to 2 groups based on the simplified PESI (sPESI): sPESI < 1 (n = 88) and sPESI ≥ 1 (n = 72). Echocardiographic parameters, including the RVEIO index, were measured. Results There were no significant differences between the groups in age and gender distribution, or the presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, and history of coronary artery disease. There was a positive correlation with the mortality rate and RVEIO index; the mortality was higher in patients with a higher RVEIO index(<0.001). In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis using a cutoff level of 14.39, RVEIO index predicted mortality with a sensitivity of 80.4% and specificity of 57.6%(ROC area under curve:0.694; 95%CI, 0.581‐0.814; P < .001). RVEIO index was higher in the sPESI ≥ 1(n:72) than in the patients with sPESI < 1(14.27 ± 2.13 vs 10.63 ± 2.09; P < .001). There was a positive correlation between RVEIO index and sPESI score(+0.428; P < .001). Conclusion As well as predicting the degree of tricuspid regurgitation (TR), the RVEIO index is well‐correlated with sPESI score and is associated with mortality in patients with APE. This easily measurable parameter may be used to predict short‐term mortality in APE patients.