EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Cardiology of the European Society of Cardiology
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The Stent for Life Initiative was founded in September 2008 as a coalition of the European Society of Cardiology, European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions and Eucomed. The aim is to promote the life-saving indications for percutaneous coronary interventions--especially in all forms of acute myocardial infarction. This article describes how this initiative began.
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We report the feasibility and outcomes of emergency extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) implantation by a cardiac catheterisation team in patients in severe cardiogenic shock or refractory cardiac arrest in a hospital without cardiac surgical facilities. ⋯ Emergency ECMO implantation by an interventional cardiologist in a hospital without cardiac surgical facilities is feasible, with a failure rate concordant with the literature.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A prospective, randomised trial of transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation vs. surgical aortic valve replacement in operable elderly patients with aortic stenosis: the STACCATO trial.
In a prospective randomised trial we aimed to compare transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation (a-TAVI) with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in operable elderly patients. ⋯ Given the limitations of a small prematurely terminated study, our results suggest that a-TAVI in its present form may be associated with complications and device success rates in low-risk patients similar or even inferior to those found in high-risk patients with aortic valve stenosis. This will probably change in the near future with improved catheter based devices and better pre-procedural assessment.