Background: Coronary stent placement may be an effective primary intervention in acute myocardial infarction. Recently published or reported data indicate that primary stenting may be superior to primary plain balloon angioplasty in this setting. The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term clinical and angiographic follow-up of patients treated with primary intracoronary stenting and to identify the predictive factors of an adverse outcome.
Methods: The study population was composed of 519 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction (43 in cardiogenic shock) and attempted primary stent implantation. Adverse clinical events such as death, recurrent infarction, and target vessel revascularization were recorded. Six-month follow-up angiography was performed in 78.2% of the eligible patients, and coronary dimensions were assessed with an automated quantitative system.
Results: Procedural success was achieved in 500 patients (96.3%). The incidence of reocclusion was 3.2%. Thirty-day mortality rate was 5. 4% (2.5% in patients without shock); adverse clinical events were encountered in 10.4% of the patients. Independent risk factors for an adverse outcome were longer time to treatment, Killip class, reduced left ventricular function, overlapping stents, and residual dissection. The incidence of angiographic restenosis was 30.6%. One-year survival rate was 89.0%; 86.5% of the patients did not have a myocardial infarction and 71.7% did not have any major adverse event.
Conclusions: Primary intracoronary stenting in patients with acute myocardial infarction is associated with a favorable early and long-term outcome. This is the result of low reocclusion and restenosis rates achieved by stenting.