LombardIMA: a regional registry for coronary angioplasty in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to be the best reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction with ST-elevation (STEMI), but data from registries show differences in patient populations and outcomes between randomized trials and real life. OBJECTIVES: We sought to provide information about the current status of this treatment with a registry collecting data in Lombardy, the most densely populated region in Italy, with widespread availability of cathlabs and a well-established network for the treatment of STEMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patient enrollment was performed by 32 hub centres recruiting 3901 STEMI patients who underwent PCI procedures within 12 h of the onset of symptoms, of whom 3317 patients underwent primary PCI, 376 'facilitated' PCI, and 208 rescue PCI in cathlabs located, in 77% of cases, in the same hospital of admission. In-hospital and 30-day total death were 4.4 and 6.6%, respectively. At multivariate analysis independent negative predictors of 30-day mortality were Killip class 3-4, number of involved ECG leads, chronic renal failure and age, whereas positive predictors were ST resolution more than 50% and postprocedural grade 3 thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow. CONCLUSIONS: LombardIMA PCI registry enrolled STEMI patients representing a real-world population treated with PCI. Findings presented in this study may provide a benchmark for similar registries undertaken in other Italian regions and may be helpful to assess future possible developments of care for STEMI patients.

Intracoronary ST segment evolution during primary coronary stenting predicts infarct zone recovery.

In patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), early ST segment elevation resolution on ECG predicts myocardial reperfusion and LV recovery. Intracoronary ECG is more sensitive than surface ECG to detect regional ischemia. In patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), we investigated if failed myocardial reperfusion, despite successful infarct vessel recanalization, could be rapidly and easily identified by intracoronary ST segment monitoring from guidewire recording. We recorded intracoronary and standard ECG during primary coronary stenting (PCI) in 50 patients with AMI (59 +/- 11 years; anterior AMI in 66%). All patients had a successful PCI and underwent 2D echocardiography soon after PCI and 6 months later. Following PCI, intracoronary ST resolution >/= 50% from baseline was documented in 39 patients (78%; group A; from 11 +/- 8 to 1 +/- 2 mm) but not in 11 (22%; group B; from 11 +/- 8 to 8 +/- 5 mm). Group A had slightly shorter ischemic time (202 +/- 94 vs. 238 +/- 112 min in B; P = 0.2) and smaller peak CK values (2,752 +/- 2,038 vs. 4,802 +/- 3,671 U/L in B; P = 0.02). After PCI, ST resolution was found on standard ECG in 34 (87%) group A and in 3 (27%) group B patients. At 6-month follow-up, left ventricular ejection fraction was greater in group A (47% +/- 8% vs. 39% +/- 8% in B; P < 0.001) with improved wall motion score index (from 2.2 +/- 0.3 to 1.7 +/- 0.3 in A; from 2.3 +/- 0.4 to 2.1 +/- 0.4 in B; P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between intracoronary and standard ECG for sensitivity (92% vs. 86%) and specificity (62% vs. 57%) to predict improved infarct zone recovery after 6 months. ST elevation resolution on intracoronary recording during PCI predicts infarct zone recovery. Monitoring ST segment evolution by intracoronary ECG allows prompt and inexpensive identification in the catheterization laboratory of those patients without myocardial reperfusion, who may require adjunctive therapeutic interventions after successful infarct vessel recanalization.