Browsing by Author "Lefèvre, Thierry (13608617100)"

The Bifurcation Academic Research Consortium (Bif-ARC) project originated from the need to overcome the paucity of standardization and comparability between studies involving bifurcation coronary lesions. This document is the result of a collaborative effort between academic research organizations and the most renowned interventional cardiology societies focused on bifurcation lesions in Europe, the United States, and Asia. This consensus provides standardized definitions for bifurcation lesions; the criteria to judge the side branch relevance; the procedural, mechanistic, and clinical endpoints for every type of bifurcation study; and the follow-up methods. Considering the complexity of bifurcation lesions and their evaluation, detailed instructions and technical aspects for site and core laboratory analysis of bifurcation lesions are also reported. The recommendations included within this consensus will facilitate pooled analyses and the effective comparison of data in the future, improving the clinical relevance of trials in bifurcation lesions, and the quality of care in this subset of patients. © 2022 The Authors

The Bifurcation Academic Research Consortium (Bif-ARC) project originated from the need to overcome the paucity of standardization and comparability between studies involving bifurcation coronary lesions. This document is the result of a collaborative effort between academic research organizations and the most renowned interventional cardiology societies focused on bifurcation lesions in Europe, the United States, and Asia. This consensus provides standardized definitions for bifurcation lesions; the criteria to judge the side branch relevance; the procedural, mechanistic, and clinical endpoints for every type of bifurcation study; and the follow-up methods. Considering the complexity of bifurcation lesions and their evaluation, detailed instructions and technical aspects for site and core laboratory analysis of bifurcation lesions are also reported. The recommendations included within this consensus will facilitate pooled analyses and the effective comparison of data in the future, improving the clinical relevance of trials in bifurcation lesions, and the quality of care in this subset of patients. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American College of Cardiology and Europa Digital & Publishing.

Introduction: Coronary Bifurcation lesions are technically more challenging and Bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a challenge with unpredictable and sub-optimal clinical and angiographic results. Drug-Coated Balloons (DCB) are emerging devices in the field of coronary intervention with promising results that may overcome some of drug eluting stents limitations and may have potential advantages in complex bifurcation PCI. Areas covered: We have performed a re-appraisal about the issues with current bifurcation PCI techniques and the use of DCB in the treatment of Bifurcation lesions. Several studies performed utilizing DCB are described and critically appraised. Over the recent years, there have been tremendous developments in the DCB technology, lesion preparation, clinical experience, and clinical data during bifurcation PCI. The current review describes the advances in the DCB technology, pharmacokinetics, role of excipients, and optimization of the technique. Special emphasis in lesion preparation and potential pathway of using DCB in bifurcation PCI is proposed. Expert opinion: Although different proof of concept and pilot studies have shown promising results in treatment of bifurcation lesions with DCB, larger randomized trials and/or international consensus papers are required to enable worldwide translation of this idea to clinical practice. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Introduction: Coronary Bifurcation lesions are technically more challenging and Bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a challenge with unpredictable and sub-optimal clinical and angiographic results. Drug-Coated Balloons (DCB) are emerging devices in the field of coronary intervention with promising results that may overcome some of drug eluting stents limitations and may have potential advantages in complex bifurcation PCI. Areas covered: We have performed a re-appraisal about the issues with current bifurcation PCI techniques and the use of DCB in the treatment of Bifurcation lesions. Several studies performed utilizing DCB are described and critically appraised. Over the recent years, there have been tremendous developments in the DCB technology, lesion preparation, clinical experience, and clinical data during bifurcation PCI. The current review describes the advances in the DCB technology, pharmacokinetics, role of excipients, and optimization of the technique. Special emphasis in lesion preparation and potential pathway of using DCB in bifurcation PCI is proposed. Expert opinion: Although different proof of concept and pilot studies have shown promising results in treatment of bifurcation lesions with DCB, larger randomized trials and/or international consensus papers are required to enable worldwide translation of this idea to clinical practice. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Background: Defining the optimal conduction of percutaneous-coronary-intervention (PCI) to treat bifurcation lesions has been the subject of many clinical studies showing that the applied stenting technique may influence clinical outcome. Accordingly, bifurcation stenting classifications and technical sequences should be standardized to allow proper reporting and comparison. Methods: The European Bifurcation Club (EBC) is a multidisciplinary group dedicated to optimize the treatment of bifurcations and previously created a classification of bifurcation stenting techniques that is based on the first stent implantation site. Since some techniques have been abandoned, others have been refined and dedicated devices became available, EBC promoted an international task force aimed at updating the classification of bifurcation stenting techniques as well as at highlighting the best practices for most popular techniques. Original descriptive images obtained by drawings, bench tests and micro-computed-tomographic reconstructions have been created in order to serve as tutorials in both procedure reporting and clinical practice. Results: An updated Main-Across-Distal-Side (MADS)-2, classification of bifurcation stenting techniques has been realized and is reported in the present article allowing standardized procedure reporting in both clinical practice and scientific studies. The EBC-promoted task force deeply discussed, agreed on and described (using original drawings and bench tests) the optimal steps for the following major bifurcation stenting techniques: (a) 1-stent techniques (“provisional” and “inverted provisional”) and (b) 2-stent techniques (“T/TAP,” “culotte,” and “DK-crush”). Conclusions: The present EBC-promoted paper is intended to facilitate technique selection, reporting and performance for PCI on bifurcated lesions during daily clinical practice. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Background: Techniques for provisional and dual-stent left main bifurcation stenting require optimization. Aim: To identify technical variables influencing procedural outcomes and periprocedural myocardial infarction following left main bifurcation intervention. Methods: Procedural and outcome data were analyzed in 438 patients from the per-protocol cohort of the European Bifurcation Club Left Main Trial (EBC MAIN). These patients were randomized to the provisional strategy or a compatible dual-stent extension (T, T-and-protrude, or culotte). Results: Mean age was 71 years and 37.4% presented with an acute coronary syndrome. Transient reduction of side vessel thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow occurred after initial stent placement in 5% of procedures but was not associated with periprocedural myocardial infarction. Failure to rewire a jailed vessel during any strategy was more common when jailed wires were not used (9.5% vs. 2.5%, odds ratio [OR]: 6.4, p = 0.002). In the provisional cohort, the use of the proximal optimization technique was associated with less subsequent side vessel intervention (23.3% vs. 41.9%, OR: 0.4, p = 0.048). Side vessel stenting was predominantly required for dissection, which occurred more often following side vessel preparation (15.3% vs. 4.4%, OR: 3.1, p = 0.040). Exclusive use of noncompliant balloons for kissing balloon inflation was associated with reduced need for side vessel intervention in provisional cases (20.5% vs. 38.5%, OR: 0.4, p = 0.013), and a reduced risk of periprocedural myocardial infarction across all strategies (2.9% vs. 7.7%, OR: 0.2, p = 0.020). Conclusion: When performing provisional or compatible dual-stent left main bifurcation intervention, jailed wire use is associated with successful jailed vessel rewiring. Side vessel preparation in provisional patients is linked to increased side vessel dissection requiring stenting. Use of the proximal optimization technique may reduce the need for additional side vessel intervention, and noncompliant balloon use for kissing balloon inflation is associated with a reduction in both side vessel stenting and periprocedural myocardial infarction. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02497014. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Coronary artery bifurcation lesions comprise approximately 15-20% of all percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and constitute a complex lesion subgroup. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising adjunctive tool for guiding coronary bifurcation with its unrivalled high resolution. Compared to angiography, intravascular OCT has a clear advantage in that it depicts ostial lesion(s) in bifurcation without the misleading two-dimensional appearance of conventional angiography such as overlap and foreshortening. In addition, OCT has the ability to reconstruct a bifurcation in three dimensions and to assess the side branch ostium from 3D reconstruction of the main vessel pullback, which can be applied to ensure the optimal recrossing position of the wire after main vessel stenting. Recently, online co-registration of OCT and angiography became widely available, helping the operator to position a stent in precise landing zones, reducing the risk of geographic miss. Despite these technological advances, the currently available clinical data are based mainly on observational studies with a small number of patients; there is little evidence from randomised trials. The joint working group of the European Bifurcation Club and the Japanese Bifurcation Club reviewed all the available literature regarding OCT use in bifurcation lesions and here provides recommendations on OCT guiding of coronary interventions in bifurcation lesions. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2019.

The 15th European Bifurcation Club (EBC) meeting was held in Barcelona in October 2019. It facilitated a renewed consensus on coronary bifurcation lesions (CBL) and unprotected left main (LM) percutaneous interventions. Bifurcation stenting techniques continue to be refined, developed and tested. It remains evident that a provisional approach with optional side branch treatment utilising T, T and small protrusion (TAP) or culotte continues to provide flexible options for the majority of CBL patients. Debate persists regarding the optimal treatment of side branches, including assessment of clinical significance and thresholds for bail-out treatment. In more complex CBL, especially those involving the LM, adoption of dedicated two-stent techniques should be considered. Operators using such techniques have to be fully familiar with their procedural steps and should acknowledge associated limitations and challenges. When using two-stent techniques, failure to perform a final kissing inflation is regarded as a technical failure, since it may jeopardise clinical outcome. The development of novel technical tools and drug regimens deserves attention. In particular, intracoronary imaging, bifurcation simulation, drug-eluting balloon technology and tailored antiplatelet therapy have been identified as promising tools to enhance clinical outcomes. In conclusion, the evolution of a broad spectrum of bifurcation PCI components has resulted from studies extending from bench testing to randomised controlled trials. However, further advances are still needed to achieve the ambitious goal of optimising the clinical outcomes for every patient undergoing PCI on a CBL. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2021.

Coronary bifurcations are involved in 15-20% of all percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and remain one of the most challenging lesions in interventional cardiology in terms of procedural success rate as well as long-term cardiac events. The optimal management of bifurcation lesions is, despite a fast growing body of scientific literature, the subject of considerable debate. The European Bifurcation Club (EBC) was initiated in 2004 to support a continuous overview of the field, and aims to facilitate a scientific discussion and an exchange of ideas on the management of bifurcation disease. The EBC hosts an annual, compact meeting, dedicated to bifurcations, which brings together physicians, engineers, biologists, physicists, epidemiologists and statisticians for detailed discussions. Every meeting is finalised with a consensus statement which reflects the unique opportunity of combining the opinions of interventional cardiologists with the opinions of a large variety of other scientists on bifurcation management. The present 11th EBC consensus document represents the summary of the up-to-date EBC consensus and recommendations. It points to the fact that there is a multitude of strategies and approaches to bifurcation stenting within the provisional strategy and in the different two-stent strategies. The main EBC recommendation for PCI of bifurcation lesions remains to use main vessel (MV) stenting with a proximal optimisation technique (POT) and provisional side branch (SB) stenting as a preferred approach. The consensus document covers a moving target. Much more scientific work is needed in non-left main (LM) and LM bifurcation lesions for continuous improvement of the outcome of our patients. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2016. All rights reserved.

The European Bifurcation Club recommends an approach to a bifurcation stenosis which involves careful assessment, planning and a sequential provisional approach. In the minority of lesions where two stents are required, careful deployment and optimal expansion are essential to achieve a long-term result. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2019. All rights reserved.

The European Bifurcation Club (EBC) was initiated in 2004 to support a continuous overview of the field of coronary artery bifurcation interventions and aims to facilitate a scientific discussion and an exchange of ideas on the management of bifurcation disease. The EBC hosts an annual, two-day compact meeting, dedicated to bifurcations, which brings together physicians, pathologists, engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, epidemiologists and statisticians for detailed discussions. Every meeting is finalised with a consensus statement that reflects the unique opportunity of combining the opinion of interventional cardiologists with the opinion of a large variety of other scientists on bifurcation management. A series of consensus sessions dedicated to specific topics, to strengthen the consensus debates and focus the discussions, was introduced at this year's meeting. The sessions comprise an intensive overview of the present literature, a pro and con debate and a voting system, to guide the consensus-building process. The present document represents the summary of the up-to-date EBC consensus and recommendations from the 12th annual EBC meeting in 2016 in Rotterdam. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2018.

The 2017 European Bifurcation Club (EBC) meeting was held in Porto (Portugal) and allowed a multidisciplinary international faculty to review and discuss the latest data collected in the field of coronary bifurcation interventions. In particular, the topic of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on left main coronary artery (LM) disease was highlighted as a contemporary priority. Herein, we summarise the key LM anatomy features, the diagnostic modalities and available data that are relevant for a patient's procedural management. Since the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing PCI on LM disease may depend on both PCI team organisation and PCI performance, the optimal catheterisation laboratory set-up and the rationales for device and technique selection are critically reviewed. The best lesion preparation modalities, the different DES implantation technique choices and the strategies to be considered during PCI on unprotected LM for optimal PCI results are reviewed step by step. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2018.

Coronary artery bifurcation lesions are frequently encountered in cardiac catheterization laboratories and are associated with more complex procedures and worse clinical outcomes than nonbifurcation lesions. Therefore, anatomical and physiological assessment of bifurcation lesions before, during, and after percutaneous coronary intervention is of paramount clinical importance. Physiological assessment can help interventionalists appreciate the hemodynamic significance of coronary artery disease and guide ischemia-directed revascularization. However, it is important to understand that the physiological approach for bifurcation disease is more important than simply using physiological indexes for its assessment. This joint consensus document by the Korean, Japanese, and European bifurcation clubs presents the concept of a physiological approach for coronary bifurcation lesions, as well as current knowledge, practical tips, pitfalls, and future directions of applying physiological indexes in bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention. This document aims to guide interventionalists in performing appropriate physiology-based assessments and treatment decisions for coronary bifurcation lesions. © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation

Background: The multicentre European Bifurcation Club Trial (EBC TWO) showed no significant differences in 12-month clinical outcomes between patients randomised to a provisional stenting strategy or systematic culotte stenting in non-left main true bifurcations. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the 5-year clinical results of the EBC TWO Trial. Methods: A total of 200 patients undergoing stent implantation for non-left main bifurcation lesions were recruited into EBC TWO. Inclusion criteria required a side branch diameter ≥2.5 mm and side branch lesion length >5 mm. Five-year follow-up was completed for 197 patients. The primary endpoint was the composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularisation. Results: The mean side branch stent diameter was 2.7±0.3 mm and mean side branch lesion length was 10.3±7.2 mm. At 5-year follow-up, the primary endpoint occurred in 18.4% of provisional and 23.7% of systematic culotte patients (hazard ratio [HR] 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.41-1.38). No significant differences were identified individually for all-cause mortality (7.8% vs 7.2%, HR 1.11, 95% CI: 0.40-3.05), myocardial infarction (8.7% vs 13.4%, HR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.27-1.50) or target vessel revascularisation (6.8% vs 9.3%, HR 1.12, 95% CI: 0.37-3.34). Stent thrombosis rates were also similar (1.9% vs 3.1%, HR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.11-3.75). There was no significant interaction between the extent of side branch disease and the primary outcome (p=0.34). Conclusions: In large non-left main true bifurcation lesions, the use of a systematic culotte strategy showed no benefit over provisional stenting for the composite outcome of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularisation at 5 years. The stepwise provisional approach may be considered preferable for the majority of true coronary bifurcation lesions. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2023. All rights reserved.

Provisional stenting has become the default technique for the treatment of most coronary bifurcation lesions. However, the side branch (SB) can become compromised after main vessel (MV) stenting and restoring SB patency can be difficult in challenging anatomies. Angiographic and intracoronary imaging criteria can predict the risk of side branch closure and may encourage use of side branch protection strategies. These protective approaches provide strategies to avoid SB closure or overcome compromise following MV stenting, minimising periprocedural injury. In this article, we analyse the strategies of SB preservation discussed and developed during the most recent European Bifurcation Club (EBC) meetings.

Background-For the treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions, a provisional strategy is superior to systematic 2-stent techniques for the most bifurcation lesions. However, complex anatomies with large side branches (SBs) with significant ostial disease length are considered by expert consensus to warrant a 2-stent technique upfront. This consensus view has not been scientifically assessed. Methods and Results-Symptomatic patients with large caliber true bifurcation lesions (SB diameter ≥2.5 mm) and significant ostial disease length (≥5 mm) were randomized to either a provisional T-stent strategy or a dual stent culotte technique. Two hundred patients aged 64±10 years, 82% male, were randomized in 20 European centers. The clinical presentations were stable coronary disease (69%) and acute coronary syndromes (31%). SB stent diameter (2.67±0.27 mm) and length (20.30±5.89 mm) confirmed the extent of SB disease. Procedural success (provisional 97%, culotte 94%) and kissing balloon inflation (provisional 95%, culotte 98%) were high. Sixteen percent of patients in the provisional group underwent T-stenting. The primary end point (a composite of death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization at 12 months) occurred in 7.7% of the provisional T-stent group versus 10.3% of the culotte group (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.78-1.34; P=0.53). Procedure time, X-ray dose, and cost all favored the simpler procedure. Conclusions-When treating complex coronary bifurcation lesions with large stenosed SBs, there is no difference between a provisional T-stent strategy and a systematic 2-stent culotte strategy in a composite end point of death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization at 12 months. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT 01560455. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Stepwise layered provisional stenting (PS) is the most commonly used strategy to treat coronary bifurcation lesions (CBL). The term “stepwise layered” emphasises the versatility of this approach that allows the adjustment of the procedure plan according to the CBL complexity, starting with stent implantation in one branch and implantation of a second stent in the other branch only when required. A series of refinements have been implemented over the years to facilitate the achievement of predictable procedural results using this approach. However, despite its simplicity and versatility, operators using this technique require full knowledge of the pitfalls of each procedural step. Part I of this 16th European Bifurcation Club consensus paper provides a detailed step-by-step overview of the pitfalls and technical troubleshooting during the implantation of the first stent using the PS strategy for the treatment of CBL. © Europa Digital & Publishing 2022. All rights reserved.

The European Bifurcation Club (EBC) supports a continuous review of the field of coronary artery bifurcation interventions and aims to facilitate a scientific discussion and an exchange of ideas on the management of bifurcation disease. The recent focus of meetings and consensus statements has been on the technical issues in bifurcation stenting, recognising that the final result of a bifurcation procedure and the long-term outcome for our patients are strongly influenced by factors, including preprocedural strategy, stenting technique selection, performance of optimal procedural steps, the ability to identify and correct complications and finally, and most important, the overall performance of the operator. Continuous refinement of bifurcation stenting techniques and the promotion of education and training in bifurcation stenting techniques represent a major clinical need. Accordingly, the consensus from the latest EBC meeting in Brussels, October 2021, was to promote education and training in bifurcation stenting based on the EBC principle. Part II of this 16th EBC consensus document aims to provide a step-by-step overview of the pitfalls and technical troubleshooting during the implantation of the second stent either in the provisional stenting (PS) strategy or in upfront 2-stent techniques (e.g., 2-stent PS pathway and double kissing crush stenting). Finally, a detailed overview and discussion of the numerous modalities available to provide continuous education and technical training in bifurcation stenting techniques are discussed, with consideration of their future application in enhancing training and practice in coronary bifurcation lesion treatment. © EuroIntervention.All rights reserved.