Definitions and Standardized Endpoints for Treatment of Coronary Bifurcations

The Bifurcation Academic Research Consortium (Bif-ARC) project originated from the need to overcome the paucity of standardization and comparability between studies involving bifurcation coronary lesions. This document is the result of a collaborative effort between academic research organizations and the most renowned interventional cardiology societies focused on bifurcation lesions in Europe, the United States, and Asia. This consensus provides standardized definitions for bifurcation lesions; the criteria to judge the side branch relevance; the procedural, mechanistic, and clinical endpoints for every type of bifurcation study; and the follow-up methods. Considering the complexity of bifurcation lesions and their evaluation, detailed instructions and technical aspects for site and core laboratory analysis of bifurcation lesions are also reported. The recommendations included within this consensus will facilitate pooled analyses and the effective comparison of data in the future, improving the clinical relevance of trials in bifurcation lesions, and the quality of care in this subset of patients. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American College of Cardiology and Europa Digital & Publishing. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The Bifurcation Academic Research Consortium (Bif-ARC) project aims to address the lack of standardization and comparability in studies on bifurcation coronary lesions. This document, the result of collaboration between academic research organizations and interventional cardiology societies, provides standardized definitions, criteria for side branch relevance, and procedural, mechanistic, and clinical endpoints for different types of bifurcation studies. It also includes instructions for site and core laboratory analysis of bifurcation lesions.