title: Long-term prognosis of late spontaneous reperfusion after failed thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early reperfusion improves left ventricular (LV) function and survival after acute myocardial infarction (MI). Thrombolytic therapy achieves early patency of the infarct artery in about two-thirds of patients. In nearly half of the remaining patients, in whom early reperfusion was not achieved with thrombolytic therapy, the infarct artery might reopen by the time of predischarge angiography. However, the impact of such late spontaneous reperfusion after failed thrombolytic therapy on LV function and long-term survival remained unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was undertaken to assess implication of late spontaneous reperfusion after failed thrombolytic therapy on LV function and long-term survival after acute MI.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study consisted of 198 patients with anterior acute MI who underwent thrombolytic therapy and predischarge angiography: 160 patients with infarct artery patent early and late after therapy (persistent patency), 17 patients with infarct artery occluded early after therapy but patent at predischarge angiography (late spontaneous reperfusion), and 21 patients with infarct artery occluded early and late after therapy (persistent occlusion).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Persistent patency was associated with enhanced improvement in LV ejection fraction (7.7 +/- 11.8%) compared with late spontaneous reperfusion (0.0 +/- 9.6%, p = 0.03) and persistent occlusion (-1.4 +/- 9.7%, p = 0.003). Persistent patency was associated with better long-term survival than with late spontaneous reperfusion (p < 0.001) and persistent occlusion (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis comparing persistent patency and late spontaneous reperfusion showed that early reperfusion was an independent predictor of long-term survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late spontaneous reperfusion after failed thrombolytic therapy was associated with poor LV function and long-term survival, emphasizing the importance of early reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Hiroshima City Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawagoe
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimatani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noma
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yumoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishioka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D017211:Treatment Failure