A significant proportion of lesions treated with transcatheter interventions in the coronary and peripheral vascular beds exhibit moderate to severe calcific plaques known to portend lower procedural success rates, increased peri-procedural adverse events, and unfavorable clinical outcomes compared with noncalcific plaques. Adapted from lithotripsy technology used for treatment of ureterorenal calculi, intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is a novel technique for the treatment of severely calcific plaque lesions that uses acoustic shockwaves in a balloon-based delivery system. Shockwaves induce calcium fractures, which facilitate stent expansion and luminal gain. In this review, the authors summarize the physics, preclinical and clinical data on IVL use in the coronary and peripheral vasculature, and future directions of IVL in transcatheter cardiovascular therapies.

The clinical outcomes of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) to optimize target lesion preparation in severely calcified de novo coronary stenoses have been examined in four prospective studies (Disrupt CAD I, II, III, and IV). The aim of this pooled analysis was to assess the cumulative safety and effectiveness of coronary IVL. Patient data were pooled from the Disrupt CAD studies which shared uniform study criteria, endpoint definitions and adjudication, and procedural follow-up. The primary safety endpoint was freedom from MACE (composite of cardiac death, all MI, or TVR) at 30 days. The primary effectiveness endpoint was procedural success, defined as stent delivery with a residual stenosis ≤30% by QCA without in-hospital MACE. Secondary outcomes included serious angiographic complications, target lesion failure (TLF), cardiac death (CD) and stent thrombosis (ST) at 30 days. Between December 2015 and April 2020, 628 patients were enrolled at 72 sites from 12 countries. Presence of severe calcification was confirmed in 97.0% of target lesions with an average calcified segment length of 41.5 ± 20.0 mm. The primary safety and effectiveness endpoints were achieved in 92.7% and 92.4% of patients, respectively. At 30 days, the rates of TLF, CD, and ST were 7.2%, 0.5%, and 0.8%. Post-IVL and final serious angiographic complications were 2.1% and 0.3% with no IVL-associated perforations, abrupt closure or episodes of no-reflow. In the largest cohort of patients treated with coronary IVL assessed to date, coronary IVL safely facilitated successful stent implantation in severely calcified coronary lesions with a high rate of procedural success.

Background: Prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with increased bleeding, despite a reduced incidence of ischemic events. The SYNERGY everolimus-eluting stent is a thin-strut platinum-chromium stent that elutes everolimus from a thin abluminal layer of bioabsorbable polymer. These design elements may facilitate rapid endothelialization and enable shorter-duration DAPT. Methods: EVOLVE Short DAPT prospectively evaluated the safety of 3-month DAPT in high bleeding risk patients treated with the SYNERGY everolimus-eluting stent, enrolling 2009 patients at 110 global sites. Patients with acute myocardial infarction or complex lesions were excluded. After percutaneous coronary intervention, patients were required to take DAPT (aspirin+P2Y ₁₂ inhibitor) for 3 months, except those on chronic anticoagulation in whom aspirin was optional. Patients free of events (stroke, myocardial infarction, revascularization, and stent thrombosis) who discontinued P2Y ₁₂ inhibitor at 3 months, but continued aspirin, and had at least 1 year of follow-up or an end point event were included in the primary analysis. Two powered coprimary end points were (1) death/myocardial infarction compared with a historical control and (2) study stent-related definite/probable stent thrombosis compared to a performance goal. Results: The analysis population consisted of 1487 patients. The adjusted rate of death/myocardial infarction between 3 and 15 months was 5.6% among patients receiving 3-month DAPT versus 5.7% patients in the 12-month DAPT control (propensity adjusted difference=−0.12%; 97.5% upper bound=1.63% which was less than the prespecified margin of 2.52; P _{non-inferiority} =0.0016). The rate of study stent-related stent thrombosis between 3-15 months was 0.2% in the 3-month DAPT group (97.5% upper bound=0.63%; P =0.0005 for comparison to 1% performance goal). Conclusions: Favorable rates of ischemic outcomes were observed among selected high bleeding risk patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with the SYNERGY everolimus-eluting stent who tolerated 3 months of P2Y ₁₂ inhibitor and then discontinued it, supporting the safety of abbreviated DAPT with this stent platform. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02605447.

BACKGROUND: Coronary intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) safely facilitates successful stent implantation in severely calcified lesions. This analysis sought to determine the relative impact of lesion calcium eccentricity on the safety and effectiveness of IVL using high-resolution optical coherence tomography imaging. METHODS: Individual patient-level data (n=262) were pooled from 4 distinct international prospective studies (Disrupt CAD I, II, III, and IV) and analyzed by an independent optical coherence tomography core laboratory. IVL performance in eccentric versus concentric calcification was analyzed by dividing calcified lesions into quartiles (≤180° [most eccentric], 181°–270°, 271°–359°, and 360° [concentric]) by maximum continuous calcium arc. RESULTS: In the 230 patients with clear imaging field on optical coherence tomography, there were no differences in preprocedure minimum lumen area, diameter stenosis, or maximum calcium thickness. The calcium length and volume index increased progressively with increasing mean and maximum continuous calcium arc (ie, concentricity). Conversely, the minimum calcium thickness decreased progressively with increasing concentricity. Post-procedure, the number of calcium fractures, fracture depth, and fracture width increased with increasing concentricity, with a 4-fold increase in the number of fractures in lesions with 360° of calcium arc compared with ≤180°. This increase in IVL-induced calcium fracture with increasing calcium burden and concentricity facilitated stent expansion and luminal gain such that there were no significant differences across quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: IVL induced calcium fractures proportional to the magnitude of coronary artery calcium, including in eccentric calcium, leading to consistent improvements in stent expansion and luminal gain in both eccentric and concentric calcified coronary lesions.

Background: Despite reductions in door‐to‐balloon times for primary coronary intervention, mortality from ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction has plateaued. Early pre–primary coronary intervention treatment of ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors improves pre–primary coronary intervention coronary flow, limits infarct size, and improves survival. We report the first human use of a novel glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor designed for subcutaneous first point‐of‐care ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction treatment. Methods and Results: Healthy volunteers and patients with stable coronary artery disease receiving aspirin received escalating doses of RUC‐4 or placebo in a sentinel‐dose, randomized, blinded fashion. Inhibition of platelet aggregation (IPA) to ADP (20 μmol/L), RUC‐4 blood levels, laboratory evaluations, and clinical assessments were made through 24 hours and at 7 days. Doses were increased until reaching the biologically effective dose (the dose producing ≥80% IPA within 15 minutes, with return toward baseline within 4 hours). In healthy volunteers, 15 minutes after subcutaneous injection, mean±SD IPA was 6.9%+7.1% after placebo and 71.8%±15.0% at 0.05 mg/kg (n=6) and 84.7%±16.7% at 0.075 mg/kg (n=6) after RUC‐4. IPA diminished over 90 to 120 minutes. In patients with coronary artery disease, 15 minutes after subcutaneous injection of placebo or 0.04 mg/kg (n=2), 0.05 mg/kg (n=6), and 0.075 mg/kg (n=18) of RUC‐4, IPA was 14.6%±11.7%, 53.6%±17.0%, 76.9%±10.6%, and 88.9%±12.7%, respectively. RUC‐4 blood levels correlated with IPA. Aspirin did not affect IPA or RUC‐4 blood levels. Platelet counts were stable and no serious adverse events, bleeding, or injection site reactions were observed. Conclusions: RUC‐4 provides rapid, high‐grade, limited‐duration platelet inhibition following subcutaneous administration that appears to be safe and well tolerated. Registration: URL: https://www.clini​caltr​ials.gov ; Unique identifier: NTC03844191.