ESC Focus on Interventions & PC - 2

Dear Practitioner,
We are pleased to share with you this special issue of ESC Congress in Review 2017 with a focus on interventions
and peripheral circulation from presentations at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress held in
Barcelona, Spain.
The featured article concentrates on the newly released 2017 ESC Guidelines on the Diagnosis and
Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Diseases. Changes from the 2011 guidelines include the use of a "vascular
team" for multidisciplinary management, risk stratification for asymptomatic carotid disease, and a focus on
lower extremity disease.
A number of highly anticipated and potentially practice-changing clinical trials were presented at ESC
Congress 2017, including the results from the COMPASS study and a combined analysis of FAME 1 and 2.
COMPASS extended the results from ATLAS TIMI-51, demonstrating that the combination of low-dose rivaroxaban (2.5 mg BID) plus aspirin was superior to aspirin alone for prevention of cardiovascular (CV) death,
stroke, or myocardial infarction in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral arterial
disease (PAD). In patients with PAD, the combination not only significantly reduced the primary outcome of
major adverse cardiac events (MACE), but also significantly reduced the key outcome for PAD, major adverse
limb events (MALE). The key composite of MACE or MALE or major amputation occurred in 6.3%, 7.6%, and
9.0% of patients receiving combination therapy, rivaroxaban alone, or aspirin alone, respectively. This represents an important advance for the treatment of patients with PAD.
The study, a subanalysis of FAME 1 and 2, that investigated whether the difference between fractional flow
reserve (FFR) at baseline and post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) impacts the 2 year vessel-oriented clinical events (VOCE) rate (vessel-related CV death, vessel-related revascularisation, and vessel-related
myocardial infarction) found that a larger improvement in FFR was associated with a lower event rate, suggesting that reduction in ischaemic potential is an independent predictor of VOCE at 2 years.
In addition to the results from clinical trials and registry updates, you will also find information on selected areas of CV medicine including a dedicated look at the 2017 ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines focused
update on dual antiplatelet therapy and at the management in patients with PAD who also have concomitant
cardiac diseases, including CAD, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure.
We hope that you find the articles and practical perspectives that are contained in this special edition of
ESC Congress 2017 in Review - Focus on Interventions and Peripheral Circulation helpful in integrating this
new information into your clinical practice.

Robert P. Giugliano, MD, SM

Marc P. Bonaca, MD, MPH

Jacob A. Udell, MD, MPH

Nihar R. Desai, MD, MPH

Matthew Cavender, MD, MPH

Erin A. Bohula May, MD, PhD

Giulia Magnani, MD, PhD

Carlos Aguiar, MD, FESC

Jan Steffel, MD, FESC, FHRS

Staff Physician Cardiovascular Division
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Associate Professor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Associate Physician Cardiovascular Division
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Assistant Professor Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Consultant, Department of Cardiology
University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland

2

October 2017

Physician Vascular Section
Cardiovascular Division
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Assistant Professor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Department of Cardiology
Hospital de Santa Cruz
Carnaxide, Portugal

Physician Cardiovascular Division
Women's College Hospital
Toronto General Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Associate Physician Cardiovascular Division
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Co-Head, Division of Electrophysiology and
Devices
Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiology
University Heart Center Zurich
University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland

www.escardio.org/ESCcongressinreview
http://www.escardio.org/ESCcongressinreview
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ESC Focus on Interventions & PC
