Interventional cardiology articles from across Nature Portfolio

In patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis and a small aortic annulus, a self-expanding valve has similar rates of clinical outcomes at 1 year and lower rates of bioprosthetic dysfunction compared with a balloon-expandable valve.

Gilard and Wijns reflect on the life of Alain Cribier, who revolutionized the management of patients with valvular disease.

In ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, the role of interventional modification of thrombi in the coronary arteries before stenting is controversial. However, innovations in stroke intervention have sparked renewed interest in thrombus modification approaches. We discuss current and emerging techniques to extract or disperse thrombi, aiming to reduce downstream embolization, microvascular obstruction and myocardial injury.

The Navion, a clinical-scale electromagnetic navigation system, is the result of over 20 years of development. Its motivation began in 2003 with the goal of controlling the motion of magnetic microrobots; however, its first clinical use is proving to be for guiding magnetic catheters, guidewires and endoscopes.

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has been rapidly adopted for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation and a contraindication to oral anticoagulation. Ongoing and planned clinical trials on LAAO and the development of new devices might expand clinical indications and address the remaining challenges of device-related thrombus and peridevice leak.

In the ORBITA-2 trial, percutaneous coronary intervention was associated with a lower angina symptom score compared with a placebo procedure in patients with stable angina who were receiving minimal or no antianginal medication.