In patients with DES-ISR, EES provided superior long-term clinical and angiographic results compared with DEB. (Restenosis Intra-Stent of Drug-Eluting Stents: Drug-Eluting Balloon vs Everolimus-Eluting Stent [RIBS IV]; NCT01239940).

In patients with ISR, repeat coronary stenting provided better initial angiographic results but failed to improve restenosis rate and clinical outcome when compared with BA. However, in patients with large vessels coronary stenting improved the long-term clinical and angiographic outcome.

In patients with BMS-ISR, both DEB and EES provided excellent clinical results with a very low rate of clinical and angiographic recurrences. However, compared with DEB, EES provide superior late angiographic findings. (Restenosis Intra-stent of Bare Metal Stents: Paclitaxel-eluting Balloon vs. Everolimus-eluting Stent [RIBS V]; NCT01239953).

Direct stenting is as safe as pre-dilated stenting in selected coronary lesions. Acute angiographic results are similar but procedural costs, duration of the procedure and radiation exposure are lower in direct stenting. Overall success rate, mid-term clinical outcome and restenosis are similar with both techniques.

The rapid development of interventional procedures for the treatment of arrhythmias in humans, especially the use of catheter ablation techniques, has renewed interest in cardiac anatomy. Although the substrates of atrial fibrillation (AF), its initiation and maintenance, remain to be fully elucidated, catheter ablation in the left atrium (LA) has become a common therapeutic option for patients with this arrhythmia. Using ablation catheters, various isolation lines and focal targets are created, the majority of which are based on gross anatomical, electroanatomical, and myoarchitectual patterns of the left atrial wall. Our aim was therefore to review the gross morphological and architectural features of the LA and their relations to extracardiac structures. The latter have also become relevant because extracardiac complications of AF ablation can occur, due to injuries to the phrenic and vagal plexus nerves, adjacent coronary arteries, or the esophageal wall causing devastating consequences.