[Update on interventional cardiology]

Abstract

This article contains a review of the most important developments in the field of interventional cardiology reported during the past year. With regard to coronary interventions, the review covers: progress in drug-eluting stents; interventions for acute coronary syndrome, with or without ST-segment elevation; percutaneous treatment of the left main coronary artery, bifurcation lesions and chronic occlusions; and recent developments in the treatment of diabetic patients. Developments in invasive (i.e. intracoronary ultrasound, optical coherence tomography and pressure wires) and non-invasive (i.e. multislice CT) diagnostic techniques are also described. In addition, this article contains a review of recent developments in regenerative therapy and in the percutaneous treatment of structural heart diseases, such as patent foramen ovale and valvular heart disease.