Association of ectatic non-infarct-related artery with 1-month stent thrombosis in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction

Background Ectatic infarct-related artery (IRA) has been shown to be associated with higher thrombus burden, no-reflow, stent thrombosis (ST) and major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The effect of ectatic non-IRA on ST without ectatic IRA is not known. We aimed to assess the effect of ectatic non-IRA presence on ST within 1 month after primary percutaneous intervention (pPCI) in patients with STEMI. Methods A total of 1541 patients with a diagnosis of STEMI and underwent pPCI between 2015 and 2020 were retrospectively included in the study. Patients with and without 1 month ST were compared. Penalised logistic regression method was used to assess the association between ST and candidate predictors due to the risk of overfitting. Results Median age of the study group was 56.5 (48.7 to 67.2) years. The Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score, ectatic non-IRA presence and use of tirofiban were significantly higher in the ST group (18.2 +/- 9.9 vs 15.1 +/- 9.9, p=0.03; 25% vs 7.2%, p<0.001; 54.2% vs 30.5%, p<0.001; respectively). Significantly higher thrombus aspiration (14.3% vs 6.7%, p=0.03) and lower stent implantation (67.7% vs 84%, p<0.001) rates were observed in ectatic IRA group compared with ectatic non-IRA group. In multivariable analysis, ectatic non-IRA presence was independently associated with 1-month ST (OR 4.01, 95% CI 1.86 to 8.63, p=0.01). Conclusion Ectatic non-IRA presence without ectatic IRA in patients with STEMI increases the risk of ST within the first month of pPCI.