Background: Accurate evaluation of stent implantation during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is essential to reduce both early and late adverse events. Conventional coronary angiography, although routinely used, has limited spatial resolution and may fail to detect subtle mechanical abnormalities in implanted stents. Enhanced stent visualization (ESV) is an X-ray-based post-processing technique that improves delineation of stent struts without additional contrast or intracoronary instrumentation. Methods: We report a retrospective case series of five patients who underwent complex PCI where ESV was used as an adjunctive imaging modality. Clinical scenarios included left main interventions, bifurcation lesions, multivessel disease, and acute coronary syndromes. The ability of ESV to detect mechanical complications not evident on angiography was assessed. The impact of ESV on procedural decision-making was also assessed. Results: ESV enabled identification of mechanical complications in all cases, including stent fracture, stent loss, stent dislodgement, stent underexpansion, and geographical miss. These findings were not clearly appreciable when using angiography alone. In each case, ESV directly influenced intraprocedural management, prompting immediate corrective actions such as additional stent implantation, stent retrieval, or further optimization with post-dilatation or intravascular lithotripsy. This resulted in improved procedural outcomes and optimized stent deployment. Conclusions: In this small retrospective case series, ESV provided incremental diagnostic value over conventional angiography by detecting otherwise unrecognized mechanical complications and guiding real-time procedural optimization. While these findings suggest a potential role for ESV in complex PCIs, larger prospective studies are required to confirm its clinical impact.

Background: Psychological distress, autonomic dysregulation, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are common after myocardial infarction (MI) and negatively affect cardiovascular outcomes. In recent years, integrative mind–body interventions, such as yoga and mindfulness-based approaches, have gained increasing attention as adjuncts to conventional cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs. However, evidence regarding their effectiveness in post-MI populations remains fragmented. Objective: This systematic review aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the effects of yoga- and mindfulness-based interventions in patients following myocardial infarction. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across major electronic databases to identify randomized controlled trials and observational studies evaluating yoga- or mindfulness-based interventions in post-MI patients. Eligible studies included adult MI populations. Study selection and quality assessment were performed according to predefined criteria. Results: The 10 included studies suggest that yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation programs may provide benefits beyond standard care, particularly in terms of self-rated health, psychological well-being, and return to pre-infarction daily activities. Mindfulness-based interventions were associated with reductions in anxiety and perceived stress, improvements in blood pressure control, enhanced social support, and better health-related quality of life. Several studies also reported favorable effects on autonomic balance and stress-related physiological markers. Finally, a study reported benefits in terms of MACE (p = 0.032). However, heterogeneity in intervention protocols, outcome measures, and study designs limited direct comparisons across studies. Conclusions: Yoga and mindfulness-based interventions appear to be promising complementary strategies in post-MI care.

Accurate evaluation of stent implantation during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is essential to reduce both early and late adverse events, including stent thrombosis and in-stent restenosis. Although conventional coronary angiography remains the standard imaging modality, its spatial resolution is often insufficient to detect subtle mechanical abnormalities of implanted stents. Enhanced stent visualization (ESV) is an X-ray-based post-processing technique that enhances delineation of stent struts using routine fluoroscopic images, without requiring additional contrast administration or intracoronary instrumentation. We describe a case series of five patients undergoing complex PCI in whom ESV proved crucial for the detection of mechanical complications that were not readily evident on angiography alone. The procedures involved challenging anatomical and clinical settings, including left main coronary artery treatment, bifurcation lesions, multivessel coronary disease, and acute coronary syndromes. In each case, ESV offered incremental diagnostic insight, enabling prompt identification of complications. These findings directly influenced procedural strategy and facilitated appropriate bailout interventions. This case series underscores the potential clinical utility of ESV as an adjunctive imaging tool to standard angiography and intravascular imaging techniques. Given its simplicity, broad accessibility, and negligible effect on procedure duration, ESV represents a feasible option during PCI. In selected complex interventions, its use may enhance mechanical optimization and procedural safety. Further large-scale prospective investigations are needed to corroborate the implementation of ESV in clinical practice.