Contemporary mechanical reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction is aimed at early and complete restoration of myocardial perfusion. However, successful restoration of epicardial blood flow does not guarantee restoration of flow at the myocardial tissue level. The incidence of inadequate myocardial reperfusion after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) varies from 15-70%,...

BACKGROUND A high number of patients do not survive primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS), even when assisted with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counterpulsation. There is no accepted consensus on who may most benefit from IABP counterpulsation, although previous retrospective studies have reported predictors of survival for patients undergoin...

We thank Lozano et al. for their thoughtful comments on our ETAMI (Early Thienopyridine Treatment to Improve Primary PCI in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction) trial (1) and fully agree with their statement that in antithrombotic therapy, there should always be a balance between efficacy and safety. Our study has investigated the very acute phase of primary percutaneous coronary interven...

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) of thrombus-containing lesions are associated with increased risk of complications such as distal coronary embolisation and impaired coronary circulation. Although the use of thrombectomy devices to aspirate thrombus during primary PCI is currently not routinely recommended, there is growing evidence suggesting the use of thrombus aspiration catheters d...

We report a patient with an initial diagnosis of small cell lung cancer treated with prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI), who subsequently developed a second primary brain neoplasm within the PCI volume. Pathology review was consistent with astrocytoma, WHO grade IV (Glioblastoma Multiforme). After describing our case, we review the literature on the development of a second brain primary aft...

This study evaluated the first year's experience of a large interventional centre in the UK after a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) programme that runs 24 hours a day and seven days a week was started. Workload, patient outcome, length of stay, and effect on the remainder of the interventional service were analysed. The primary PCI service for a mainly urban population of 800,0...