Introduction Atherosclerotic upper extremity obstructive disease is predominantly secondary to subclavian or innominate artery stenosis (SAS or IAS). The diagnosis is usually suspected when a significant (often ≥15 mm Hg) systolic brachial…
Introduction Prevalence The prevalence of mesenteric arterial stenoses is much more common than is the clinical manifestation of chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI), likely due to the rich vascular communication among…
Introduction Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a tomographic imaging technology first described for use in ophthalmology that has been adapted for real-time intravascular imaging. The resolution of OCT is significantly…
Introduction A bifurcation coronary lesion is a stenosis involving or adjacent to the origin of an arterial side branch ≥2 mm in diameter. The stenosis can involve the large branch (main…
Introduction Acute myocardial infarction is caused by thrombotic occlusion of a native coronary artery. While partial occlusion usually presents as a non ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), it is expected that…
Introduction Calcified coronary lesions present an important challenge to interventional cardiologists. Because of the rigidity and noncompliance of a heavily calcified coronary artery segment, heavy calcification was a risk factor…
Dr. Brilakis: Research support from the Department of Veterans Affairs (PI of the Drug Eluting Stents in Saphenous Vein Graft Angioplasty—DIVA trial and Merit grant—I01-CX000787-01) and from the National Institutes…
Arterial access for common coronary and vascular procedures can be obtained via the common femoral artery, radial, ulnar, or brachial arteries. More recently, the subclavian artery and direct aortic access…
Introduction Coronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA), introduced in 1977, was initially limited to treatment of focal, noncalcified, proximal, concentric coronary lesions. Initially case selection was confined to patients with normal left…
Introduction Over the past few decades, major technological improvements in Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (CCL) equipment have enabled acquisition of images with better quality at a potentially lower radiation dose. Concurrently,…
