Multivessel Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Chinese Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction and Simple Nonculprit Arteries

Preventive Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction - The Primacy of Randomised Trials

Randomised trials show a benefit of preventive (non-infarct artery) percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction, but non-randomised studies do not. The evidence on each is quantified and assessed. The primacy of randomised trials reveals the danger of using non-randomised studies that can, as in this case, give the wrong answer.

Management of multivessel coronary disease after ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary coronary angioplasty

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention of the infarct-related artery is now considered the gold standard for patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. However, a sizable portion of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction have concomitant multivessel disease, which raises important therapeutic and prognostic issues. Indeed, it is still unclear whether percutaneous coronary intervention of the culprit vessel alone is superior, equivalent, or inferior in terms of risk-benefit balance in comparison to a strategy of complete revascularization, with percutaneous coronary intervention of nonculprit vessels as well. The present systematic review provides an updated prospective on the rationale, background, and outcomes of culprit-only versus multivessel percutaneous revascularization in subjects undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Our findings clearly demonstrate that multivessel coronary disease significantly and adversely impacts on patient prognosis, yet a culprit-only revascularization strategy should be sought after in most cases, unless patient instability or symptoms/signs of residual myocardial ischemia support nonculprit vessel intervention.

Impact of multivessel coronary artery disease and noninfarct-related artery revascularization on outcome of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction transferred for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (from the EUROTRANSFER Registry)

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of multivessel coronary artery disease (MVD) and noninfarct-related artery (non-IRA) revascularization during index percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on outcomes of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Data on 1,598 of 1,650 patients with complete angiographic data, with >or=1 significantly stenosed epicardial coronary artery, and without previous coronary artery bypass grafting were retrieved from the EUROTRANSFER Registry database. Patients with 1-, 2-, and 3-vessel disease made up 48.5%, 32.0%, and 19.5% of the registry population, respectively. Patients with MVD were less likely to achieve final Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction grade 3 flow (1- vs 2- vs 3-vessel disease, 93.6% vs 89.3% vs 87.9%, respectively, p = 0.003) and ST-segment resolution >50% within 60 minutes after PCI (1- vs 2- vs 3-vessel disease, 80.9% vs 77.5% vs 69.3%, respectively, p <0.001). They were also at higher risk of death during 1-year follow-up (1- vs 2- vs 3-vessel disease, 4.9% vs 7.4% vs 13.5%, respectively, p <0.001), and MVD was identified as an independent predictor of 1-year death. In 70 patients (9%) non-IRA PCI was performed during index PCI. These patients were at higher risk of 30-day and 1-year death compared to patients without non-IRA PCI, but this difference in mortality was no longer significant after adjustment for covariates. In conclusion, patients with MVD have decreased epicardial and myocardial reperfusion success and had worse prognosis after primary PCI for STEMI compared to patients with 1-vessel disease. In this large multicenter registry, non-IRA PCI during the index procedure was performed in 9% of patients with MVD and it was associated with increased 1-year mortality.

Prevalence, predictors, and in-hospital outcomes of non-infarct artery intervention during primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry)

Guidelines support percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the noninfarct-related artery during primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients with hemodynamic compromise; however, in patients without hemodynamic compromise, PCI of the noninfarct-related artery is given a class III recommendation. We analyzed the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (n = 708,481 admissions, 638 sites) to determine the prevalence, predictors, and in-hospital outcomes of primary multivessel PCI from 2004 to 2007. Patients with STEMI and multivessel coronary artery disease who were undergoing primary PCI were identified (n = 31,681). After excluding the patients treated with staged PCI (n = 2,745), 10.8% (n = 3,134) of the remaining population (n = 28,936) were treated with multivessel PCI. Patients undergoing multivessel PCI were at higher risk and were more likely to be in cardiogenic shock. The overall in-hospital mortality rates were greater in patients undergoing multivessel PCI (7.9% vs 5.1%, p <0.01). Among patients with STEMI and cardiogenic shock (n = 3,087), those receiving multivessel PCI had greater in-hospital mortality (36.5% vs 27.8%; adjusted odds ratio 1.54, 95% confidence interval 1.22 to 1.95). In conclusion, these data suggest that performing multivessel PCI during primary PCI for STEMI does not improve short-term survival even for patients with cardiogenic shock. These findings suggest the need for definitive studies to evaluate the utility of noninfarct-related artery PCI among patients with STEMI.