Myocardial protective effect of intracoronary administration of nicorandil and alprostadil via targeted perfusion microcatheter in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention: A randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of nicorandil and alprostadil on myocardial protection in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: In this prospective, single-blinded, randomized controlled study, 90 consecutive patients scheduled for elective PCI for de novo coronary lesions were assigned to the nicorandil, alprostadil, and nitroglycerin groups in a 111 ratio. Drugs were administered intracoronary via a targeted perfusion microcatheter. The primary endpoint was the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) myocardial perfusion frame count (TMPFC). Additionally, the corrected TIMI frame count (cTFC), TIMI myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG), and incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) were assessed. RESULTS: Both nicorandil and alprostadil were significantly effective in reducing TMPFC (114.6 ±â€Š33.7 vs 93.4 ±â€Š30.9, P = .016; 114.3 ±â€Š34.3 vs 94.7 ±â€Š33.3, P = .029, respectively). Similar findings were observed in the improvement of cTFC (20.3 ±â€Š10.5 vs 13.5 ±â€Š5.0, P = .003; 20.2 ±â€Š7.4 vs 15.2 ±â€Š5.2, P = .003, respectively) and percentage of TMPG 3 (100% vs 82.8%, P = .052; 83.3% vs 96.7%, P = .196, respectively); whereas, nitroglycerin produced a limited effect on TMPFC (114.4 ±â€Š30.9 vs 112.1 ±â€Š31.9, P = .739), cTFC (19.4 ±â€Š7.2 vs 19.3 ±â€Š7.2, P = .936), and percentage of TMPG 3 (86.7% vs 86.7%, P = 1.000). No significant difference was found in the incidence of PMI (16.7% vs 16.0% vs 27.6%, P = .537), though it was comparatively lower in the nicorandil and alprostadil groups. Furthermore, the intracoronary administration of nicorandil and alprostadil had a mild effect on blood pressure and heart rate. CONCLUSIONS: The intracoronary administration of nicorandil and alprostadil via a targeted perfusion microcatheter was more effective in improving myocardial perfusion in patients undergoing elective PCI than nitroglycerin.