Outcomes of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have improved because of advancements in equipment and techniques. With global collaboration and knowledge sharing, we have identified 7 common principles that are widely accepted as best practices for CTO-PCI.  1. Ischemic symptom improvement is the primary indication for CTO-PCI.  2. Dual coronary angiography and in-depth and structured review of the angiogram (and, if available, coronary computed tomography angiography) are key for planning and safely performing CTO-PCI.  3. Use of a microcatheter is essential for optimal guidewire manipulation and exchanges.  4. Antegrade wiring, antegrade dissection and reentry, and the retrograde approach are all complementary and necessary crossing strategies. Antegrade wiring is the most common initial technique, whereas retrograde and antegrade dissection and reentry are often required for more complex CTOs.  5. If the initially selected crossing strategy fails, efficient change to an alternative crossing technique increases the likelihood of eventual PCI success, shortens procedure time, and lowers radiation and contrast use.  6. Specific CTO-PCI expertise and volume and the availability of specialized equipment will increase the likelihood of crossing success and facilitate prevention and management of complications, such as perforation.  7. Meticulous attention to lesion preparation and stenting technique, often requiring intracoronary imaging, is required to ensure optimum stent expansion and minimize the risk of short- and long-term adverse events. These principles have been widely adopted by experienced CTO-PCI operators and centers currently achieving high success and acceptable complication rates. Outcomes are less optimal at less experienced centers, highlighting the need for broader adoption of the aforementioned 7 guiding principles along with the development of additional simple and safe CTO crossing and revascularization strategies through ongoing research, education, and training.

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Background: The potential impact of quantitative flow ratio (QFR) based functional Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score (FSS QFR ) on prognostication and revascularization strategy choice has not been fully investigated, and the discriminant ability of FSS QFR needs further validation. Methods: QFR was retrospectively analyzed in left main or patients with multivessel coronary artery disease from the PANDA III trial. A total of 607 patients with analyzable QFR in all vessels were included. FSS QFR was counted by summing the individual scores only in ischemia-producing lesions (vessel QFR ≤0.8). Patients were stratified according to tertiles of SYNTAX score (SS), and 3 groups of FSS were divided by the same cutoff score. The primary end point was 2-year major adverse cardiac events (a composite of cardiac death, any myocardial infarction, or ischemia-driven revascularization). Results: After calculating the FSS QFR , 16% (96/607) of study patients moved from higher-risk group by SS to lower-risk group. In the low, intermediate, and high FSS QFR group, the cumulative incidence of 2-year major adverse cardiac events was 9.1%, 13.5%, and 22.3% ( P =0.0004), and the rate of a composite of cardiac death or myocardial infarction (3.8%, 7.3%, and 13.7%, P= 0.0006) was also increased. Compared with SS, FSS QFR significantly improved risk classification and prognostication (area under the curve of the receiver-operating characteristics 0.65 versus 0.62, P= 0.0009). Moreover, 6% (38/607) of patients, for whom coronary artery bypass grafting would be recommended according to SS, converted to favor percutaneous coronary intervention after FSS QFR calculation. After multivariate adjustment, FSS QFR was an independent predictor of 2-year major adverse cardiac events (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.02–1.07]; P =0.0001). Conclusions: Among patients with left main or multivessel coronary artery disease, FSS QFR showed applicability in prognostication and revascularization strategy choice. An improved scoring system combining anatomy and physiology (FSS QFR ) discriminated the risk of adverse events modestly better than anatomic assessment (SS) alone. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT02017275.

Background: The Chinese appropriate use criteria (AUC) for coronary revascularization was released in 2016 to improve the use of coronary revascularization. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the appropriateness of coronary revascularization based on the Chinese AUC and 1-year outcomes in stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Methods : We conducted a prospective, multi-center cohort study of stable CAD patients with coronary lesion stenosis ≥50%. After the classification of appropriateness based on Chinese AUC, patients were categorized into the coronary revascularization group or the medical therapy group based on treatment received. The primary outcome was a composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, repeated revascularization, and ischemic symptoms with hospital admission. Results: From August 2016 to August 2017, 6085 patients were consecutively enrolled. Coronary revascularization was associated with a lower adjusted hazard of 1-year major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.45–0.86; P = 0.004) than medical therapy in patients with appropriate indications (n = 1617). No significant benefit in 1-year MACCEs was found after revascularization compared to after medical therapy in patients with uncertain indications (n = 2658, HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.52–1.25; P = 0.338) and inappropriate indications (n = 1810, HR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.51–1.23; P = 0.308). Conclusions: In patients with appropriate indications according to Chinese AUC, coronary revascularization was associated with significantly lower risk of MACCEs at 1 year. No benefit was found in coronary revascularization in patients with inappropriate indications. Our findings provide evidence for using Chinese AUC to guide clinical decision-making. Clinical trial registration: NCT02880605. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Angiographic collateral cannot accurately predict myocardial viability, and has lower sensitivity in prediction of functional improvement in CTO territories in ICM patients. Hence, assessment of myocardial viability with non-invasive imaging modalities is of importance. Moreover, due to the lack of correlation between myocardial hibernation and scar, these two indices are complementary but not interchangeable.

Study objective To prospectively examine the association between sleep quality and incident cancer risk in the elderly. Methods A total of 10036 participants aged ≥50 years free of cancer at baseline from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) at wave 4 (2008) were included, and followed up until 2016. The primary endpoint was new onset physician-diagnosed cancer. Sleep quality was assessed by four questions regarding the frequency of sleep problems and overall subjective feeling of sleep quality in the last month, with higher score denoting poorer sleep quality. The multivariable Cox regression model was used to calculate hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for incident cancer risk according to sleep quality. Results At 8-year follow up, a total of 745 (7.4%) participants developed cancer. Compared with good sleep quality at baseline, HR (95% CI) for incident cancer risk was 1.328 (1.061, 1.662) for intermediate quality, 1.586 (1.149, 2.189) for poor quality. Similarly, compared with maintaining good sleep quality in the first four years, HR (95% CI) for incident cancer risk was 1.615 (1.208, 2.160) for maintaining intermediate quality and 1.608 (1.043, 2.480) for maintaining poor quality. The exclusion of participants with family history of cancer or abnormal sleep duration yielded consistent results. Conclusions Poor sleep quality is positively associated with the long-term risk of developing cancer in an elderly cohort. Both medical staffs and the general public should pay more attention to improving sleep hygiene.