Analysis of Coronary Ultrasound Thrombolysis Endpoints in Acute Myocardial Infarction (ACUTE Trial)

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that therapeutic ultrasound effects ultrasound thrombolysis by selectively disrupting the fibrin matrix of the thrombus. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical feasibility of percutaneous transluminal coronary ultrasound thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive patients (n = 15) with evidence of anterior AMI and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 0 or 1 flow in the left anterior descending artery underwent coronary ultrasound thrombolysis. Angiographic follow-up was performed after 10 minutes and 12 to 24 hours. Ultrasound induced successful reperfusion (TIMI grade 3 flow) in 87% of the patients. Adjunct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) after ultrasound thrombolysis produced a final residual stenosis of 20 +/- 12% as determined by quantitative coronary angiographic analysis. There were no adverse angiographic signs or clinical effects during the procedure. There was no change in the degree of flow in any of the patients at the 12- to 24-hour angiograms. During hospitalization, 1 patient had recurrent ischemia on the fifth day after the procedure, and emergent catheterization revealed occlusion at the treatment site. The patient was successfully treated with PTCA. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ultrasound thrombolysis has the potential to be a safe and effective catheter-based therapeutic modality in reperfusion therapy for patients with AMI and other clinical conditions associated with intracoronary thrombosis.