Italy: coronary and structural heart interventions from 2010 to 2015

The aim of this report is to analyse trends in Italian cathlab activity between 2010 and 2015. Data were obtained from the national database of the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (GISE), which includes 97% of Italian cardiac catheterisation laboratories. The number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) has remained relatively stable in the past five years. We have observed a significant increase in the number of primary PCI (pPCI) from 471.5 to 557.5 per million inhabitants with a consequent reduction of rescue primary PCI/fibrinolysis. One of the possible explanations for this might be the extensive networking for primary PCI and the adoption of Stent for Life initiatives in five regions. There has been a notably increased use of drug-eluting stents and, despite the fact that the introduction of bioabsorbable vascular scaffolds is recent, there is a slight, progressively positive trend. Invasive physiologic evaluation of coronary stenosis has markedly increased. Radial artery access has become the default option for PCI and for pPCI. In the last five years, TAVI procedures have doubled in number, while MitraClip and mitral repair procedures have shown a fivefold increase. Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion procedures have more than doubled in four years.