Coronary bypass surgery (CBS) is performed in many older patients who frequently also have mild calcific aortic stenosis. It is important that a correct assessment of the severity of aortic stenosis is done by calculating the aortic valve area. Mild aortic stenosis is aortic valve area >1.5 cm(2), >0.9 cm(2)/m(2); severe aortic stenosis is aortic valve area < or =1.0 cm(2), < or =0.6 cm(2)/m(2). Patients who have severe aortic stenosis should have aortic valve replacement (AVR) at the time of CBS. Patients with mild aortic stenosis should not have AVR simultaneously with CBS because: 1) patients having AVR+CBS have a higher operative and 10-year mortality; 2) prosthetic heart valves are associated with a complication rate of 2%-6% per year; and 3) only about 12% of patients with mild aortic stenosis will have developed severe aortic stenosis in 10 years. Performing AVR for mild aortic stenosis at the time of CBS will probably result in 91 unnecessary AVRs and 29 excess deaths in 10 years.
Outside the United States, Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents are implanted by handcrimping the stent to a high pressure balloon without the use of a protective sheath. This lowers the delivery profile, increases the ease of deployment, and ensures that the postdilatation balloon is centered on the stent. To assess this bare stenting technique, 209 patients were retrospectively analyzed: 92 patients (107 lesions) with the sheath protected stent delivery system (SDS) and 117 patients (150 lesions) with the bare stent approach. The number of balloons used per lesion in the bare stent group was significantly less than in the SDS group (1.9 ؎ 0.6 vs. 3.8 ؎ 1.2, P F 0.0001). In addition, the procedure time in the bare stent group was significantly shorter than in the SDS group (106 ؎ 55 vs. 134 ؎ 60 min, P ؍ 0.001). There was no difference in frequency of adverse events or stent displacement during the procedure. The bare stenting technique decreases the procedure time, reduces the number of balloons used, and is as safe as the SDS approach.
Outside the United States, Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents are implanted by handcrimping the stent to a high pressure balloon without the use of a protective sheath. This lowers the delivery profile, increases the ease of deployment, and ensures that the postdilatation balloon is centered on the stent. To assess this bare stenting technique, 209 patients were retrospectively analyzed: 92 patients (107 lesions) with the sheath protected stent delivery system (SDS) and 117 patients (150 lesions) with the bare stent approach. The number of balloons used per lesion in the bare stent group was significantly less than in the SDS group (1.9 ؎ 0.6 vs. 3.8 ؎ 1.2, P F 0.0001). In addition, the procedure time in the bare stent group was significantly shorter than in the SDS group (106 ؎ 55 vs. 134 ؎ 60 min, P ؍ 0.001). There was no difference in frequency of adverse events or stent displacement during the procedure. The bare stenting technique decreases the procedure time, reduces the number of balloons used, and is as safe as the SDS approach.
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