Coronary sinus reducer (CSR) implantation is a new treatment option for patients with refractory angina. The previous randomized trial showed improvement of angina symptoms in patients with reversible ischemia in the territory of the left coronary artery (LCA). The efficiency of CSR treatment in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the right coronary artery (RCA) remains unknown. Furthermore, there is no randomized data, which would show the improvement of exercise capacity after the treatment. Preclinical studies have shown a link between coronary sinus narrowing and antiarrhythmic effect. There is no prospective clinical data on this effect in patients treated with CSR.
In the first part of this thesis, we compared the efficacy of CSR implantation in patients with CTO RCA and predominant ischemia of the inferior wall and patients with ischemia in the territory of LCA. Twenty-two patients with CTO RCA were compared to 24 patients with LCA ischemia. After the procedure, the average functional class of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) in the CTO RCA group improved from 2.73±0.46 to 1.82±0.73 (p <0.001) and in the LCA group from 2.67±0.57 to 1.92±0.72 (p <0.001). The improvement in both groups was comparable (p= 0.350). In both groups, there was a significant and comparable improvement in all domains of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Cardiac stress magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) showed no change in the number of ischemic segments in the inferior and inferoseptal wall but showed an improvement of transmurality index (p = 0.03) and myocardial perfusion reserve index (p = 0.03) in segments with inducible ischemia.
In the second part of the thesis, we conducted a randomized study (Crossroad) that included patients with refractory angina CCS class II-IV and inducible ischemia in the LCA territory. The improvement of exercise parameters in patients with implanted CSR (13 patients) was compared with the improvement in patients who underwent a sham procedure (12 patients). At baseline and after 6 months of follow-up a symptom-limited cardiopulmonary stress test was performed in both groups with the use of adjusted ramp protocol. In the CSR group, the maximum oxygen consumption increased from 15.56 ± 4.05 to 18.4 ± 5.2 mL/kg/min (p = 0.03). In the sham group, there was no significant change in oxygen consumption (p = 0.53). The improvement of oxygen consumption in the CSR group was significantly higher if compared to patients in the sham group (p = 0.03). In contrast to the improvement of exercise parameters, there was no difference in the improvement of CCS class or SAQ domains.
In the third part of the thesis, we performed a sub-analysis of the Crossroad study. At baseline and after 6 months of follow-up, a 5-minute high-resolution ECG (hrECG) was recorded in both patient groups. We analyzed changes in the duration of the T-peak T-end interval, change of the spatial angle between the QRS axis and T wave (QRS-T angle) using the either maximum (QRSTP angle) or mean (QRSTM angle) QRS and T vector amplitudes, QT variability index (QTVi), QT variability ratio, spatial ventricular gradient (SVG) amplitude and heart rate variability using the time and frequency domains. At baseline, all analyzed parameters were comparable between both groups and heart rate remained constant. The intragroup analysis did not show any significant change in TpTe, QRSTP, QRSTM, SVG, QT, and heart rate variability at follow-up. Furthermore, intergroup comparison between CSR implantation and sham procedure also did not show any significant difference in the change of analyzed parameters.
In this thesis, we have shown that the symptomatic improvement after CSR implantation in patients with CTO RCA and predominant ischemia of the inferior wall does not differ from the improvement in patients with LCA ischemia. In patients with LCA ischemia CSR implantation improves exercise capacity beyond that of anti-ischemic medical therapy. In contrast to preclinical studies, we did not find any significant impact of CSR implantation on hrECG indicators of arrhythmic properties of the heart.
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