Background A hybrid approach to chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) prioritizing and combining all available crossing techniques was developed to optimize procedural efficacy, efficiency, and safety, but there is limited published data on its outcomes. Methods We examined the procedural techniques and outcomes of 1,036 consecutive CTO PCIs performed using a hybrid approach between 2012 and 2015 at 11 US centers. Results Mean age was 65±10 years and 86% of the patients were men, with a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus (43%) and prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery (34%). Most target CTOs were located in the right coronary artery (59%), followed by the left anterior descending artery (23%) and the circumflex (19%). Dual injection was used in 71%. Technical success was achieved in 91% and a major procedural complication occurred in 1.7% of cases. The final successful crossing technique was antegrade wire escalation in 46%, antegrade dissection/re-entry in 26%, and retrograde in 28%. The initial crossing strategy was successful in 58% of the lesions, whereas 39% required an additional approach. Overall, antegrade wire escalation was used in 71%, antegrade dissection/re-entry in 36%, and the retrograde approach in 42% of procedures. Median contrast volume, fluoroscopy time, and air kerma radiation dose were 260 (200–360) ml, 44 (27–72) min, and 3.4 (2.0–5.4) Gray, respectively. Conclusion Application of a hybrid approach to CTO crossing resulted in high success and low complication rates across a varied group of operators and hospital practice structures, supporting its expanding use in CTO PCI.

Inhaled beta-agonists are commonly prescribed for the symptoms of exercise intolerance in heart failure despite a paucity of data regarding their safety and efficacy. This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled 14-day cross-over study to determine if chronic inhaled salmeterol therapy 84 microg every 12 hours improved pulmonary function without augmentation of neurohormonal systems or ventricular ectopy in 8 symptomatic heart failure subjects with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40% and FEV1

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Aim To examine the impact of diabetes mellitus on procedural outcomes of patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion. Methods We assessed the impact of diabetes mellitus on the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion among 1308 people who underwent such procedures at 11 US centres between 2012 and 2015. Results The participants' mean ± SD age was 66±10 years, 84% of the participants were men and 44.6% had diabetes. As compared with participants without diabetes, participants with diabetes were more likely to have undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery (38 vs 31%; P=0.006), and to have had previous heart failure (35 vs 22%; P=0.0001) and peripheral arterial disease (19 vs 13%; P=0.002). They also had a higher BMI (31±6 kg/m2 vs 29±6 kg/m2; P=0.001), similar Japanese chronic total occlusion scores (2.6 ± 1.2 vs 2.5 ± 1.2; P=0.82) and similar final successful crossing technique: antegrade wire escalation (46 vs 47%; P=0.66), retrograde (30 vs 28%; P=0.66) and antegrade dissection re-entry (24 vs 25%; P=0.66). Technical (91 vs 90%; P=0.80) and procedural (89 vs 89%; P=0.93) success was similar in the two groups, as was the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (2.2 vs 2.5%; P=0.61). Conclusions In a contemporary cohort of people undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion, nearly one in two (45%) had diabetes mellitus. Procedural success and complication rates were similar in people with and without diabetes.

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