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Background: Even in the era of drug-eluting stents, underexpansion of coronary stents remains a prominent cause of in-stent thrombosis and restenosis in patients having percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The aim of this work was to evaluate the value of using stent boost (SB) to detect stent under expansion (UE) by comparing this method to the gold-standard method of measurement by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Methods: This prospective observational cross-sectional research enrolled 21 cases with chronic coronary artery disease who had elective PCI with IVUS and SB. Every patient was exposed to full history taking, full clinical examination and echocardiography. Pre-stenting IVUS was done to assess lesion characteristics, vessel measurements specifically distal reference lumen diameter and area (distal RLD, RLA) and to assess the size of the needed stent. SB image was obtained helped by the deflated balloon of the immediately deployed stent. IVUS was introduced post-stenting to obviate any hidden complication as well as to assess stent measurements of minimal stent diameter and area (MSD, MSA), hence, identify the group of patients with stent UE for which subsequent high pressure balloon dilatation was done. Post-procedure off-line processing of SB and QCA images to evaluate the presence of UE by both modalities. Results: SB showed good agreement to IVUS regarding MSD which became optimal agreement when done for Xience Xpedition stent (as the commonly used stent in our study).  SB was able to detect optimal expansion compared to IVUS with 100% sensitivity and 33.33% specificity (p =0.005, AUC=0.808) at cut-off value criteria of MSD/distal RLD of 70%. The specificity increased to 66.67% when the cut-off value criteria of MSD/distal RLD was 76%. There was less agreement between QCA and IVUS. Conclusions: Stent boost showed good agreement to IVUS regarding MSD which became optimal agreement when done for Xience Xpedition stent (as the commonly used stent in our study). SB was able to detect optimal expansion compared to IVUS with 100% sensitivity and Expedition 66.67% specificity (p =0.005, AUC=0.808) at MSD/distal RLD of 76% as a cut-off value criteria.

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Background Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) on hemodialysis (HD) have a high prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), which is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Hyperparathyroidism in these patients plays a key role in the development of LVH. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of parathyroid hormone (PTH) level with left ventricular mass in patients with ESKD on HD. Other factors that contribute to the development of LVH were also included. Patients and methods This study included 40 patients with ESKD at our dialysis unit. Patients were classified into two groups: group I included 20 patients with LVH and group II included 20 patients without LVH. Patients were defined as having LVH if they had left ventricular mass index more than 95 g/m2 in women and more than 115 g/m2 in men. Results There was a statistically significant increase in PTH in patients in group I than group II (P=0.009). Hemoglobin % was significantly lower in patients in group I than group II (P=0.042). Left ventricular mass index showed a significant positive correlation with PTH and a significant negative correlation with hemoglobin %. Conclusion Hyperparathyroidism and anemia are the two major contributors to the development of LVH in patients with ESKD on HD.