Impact of early vs. late microvascular obstruction assessed by magnetic resonance imaging on long-term outcome after ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a comparison with traditional prognostic markers.
OBJECTIVE
Early and late microvascular obstruction (MO) assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are prognostic markers for combined clinical endpoints after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, there are only limited data for hard endpoints and no consensus exists which of the two best predicts clinical outcome. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the assessment of MO by MRI adds incremental prognostic information independent of traditional outcome markers.


RESULTS
STEMI patients reperfused by primary angioplasty (n = 438) < 12 h after symptom onset underwent MRI at a median of 3 days after the index event. Microvascular obstruction was measured 1 and 15 min after gadolinium injection (early and late MO). Clinical follow-up was conducted after a median of 19 months. The primary endpoint was defined as a composite of death, non-fatal myocardial re-infarction, and congestive heart failure. In contrast to the presence and extent of early MO, the presence and extent of late MO were independently associated with the composite primary endpoint in the multivariable Cox regression analysis adjusting for post-percutaneous coronary intervention TIMI-flow, ST-resolution, TIMI-risk score, ejection fraction, and infarct size. The presence of late MO was identified as the strongest independent predictor for the occurrence of the composite endpoint (hazard ratio 4.23, 95%CI 1.73-10.34, P = 0.002). Furthermore, the presence and extent of late MO provided an incremental prognostic value above the traditional prognostic markers.


CONCLUSIONS
In contrast to early MO, the presence and extent of late MO are strong independent prognosticators after STEMI. www.ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00299377.
de Waha
Suzanne
S
Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology, University of Leipzig - Heart Centre, Leipzig, Germany.
Desch
Steffen
S
Eitel
Ingo
I
Fuernau
Georg
G
Zachrau
Johannes
J
Leuschner
Anja
A
Gutberlet
Matthias
M
Schuler
Gerhard
G
Thiele
Holger
H
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D054059:Coronary Occlusion / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015415:Biomarkers