Impact of Chronic Total Coronary Occlusion on Microvascular Reperfusion in Patients With a First Anterior ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background. We investigated an impact of the presence of chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO) in a non-infarct related coronary artery on microvascular reperfusion in patients with a first anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods. In accordance with the presence or absence of CTO in a non-infarct related coronary artery, we analyzed Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction myocardial perfusion (TMP) grade on a scale of 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating better perfusion, and ST-segment resolution in sum of lead I, aVL, and V1 through V6 to evaluate microvascular reperfusion in a total of 140 consecutive patients with a first anterior STEMI. Results. We identified CTO in 15 patients (11% of total). The incidence of impaired microvascular reperfusion was greater in patients with CTO vs without CTO, defined as TMP grades 0 or 1 together with <30% ST-segment resolution (33% vs 6%, respectively; P=.0006) and the enzymatic infarct was larger (10304 +/- 8060 IU/L vs 6804 +/- 4959 IU/L; P=.009). Logistic regression analysis revealed that CTO is closely associated with incidental impaired microvascular reperfusion (odds ratio, 6.801; 95% confidence interval, 1.284-36.209; P=.024). Conclusion. The presence of CTO in a non-infarct related coronary artery might confer a considerable disadvantage upon microvascular reperfusion and result in adverse clinical outcomes of PCI for a first anterior STEMI. J INVASIVE CARDIOL 2012; 24(9): 428-432