title: Is the myocardial blush grade scored by the operator during primary percutaneous coronary intervention of prognostic value in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction in routine clinical practice?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple trials have documented that myocardial blush grade (MBG) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has prognostic value for long-term clinical outcome. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has determined the clinical use of MBG in routine clinical practice. We determined the prognostic value of MBG scored by the operator during primary PCI in consecutive patients with STEMI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prognostic value of MBG scored by the operator in relation to 1-year all cause mortality was evaluated in all patients with STEMI who underwent primary PCI between January 2004 and July 2008 in our hospital. The incidence of MBG 0, 1, 2, and 3 was 12%, 14%, 36%, and 38%, respectively, in 2118 consecutive patients with STEMI. Follow-up of all 2118 patients showed a 1-year all cause mortality rate of 8% (168 of 2118): 24%, 10%, 6%, and 4%, respectively, among patients with MBG 0, 1, 2, and 3 (P<0.001). In the 1763 patients with Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade 3 after PCI, these mortality rates were 17%, 10%, 6%, and 4%, respectively (P<0.001). MBG scored by the operator was a strong independent predictor of 1-year all cause mortality corrected for other well-known predictive variables, including TIMI flow grade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MBG scored by the operator during primary PCI has prognostic value for 1-year all cause mortality in patients with STEMI in routine clinical practice. Therefore, the MBG should be documented, in addition to the TIMI flow grade, during primary PCI in patients with STEMI in standard PCI reports in routine clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. m.a.kampinga@thorax.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Marthe A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kampinga
authors.forename: Maarten W N
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Nijsten
authors.forename: Youlan L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: W Arnold
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Dijk
authors.forename: Bart J G L
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: de Smet
authors.forename: Ad F M
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.forename: Eng-Shiong
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zijlstra
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D017222:Angioplasty, Balloon, Laser-Assisted; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome