Dilation of the Infarct-Related Coronary Artery to Reduce the Incidence of the No-Reflow Phenomenon in STEMI Patients

Background: The pathogenesis of slow/no-reflow phenomena is a critical socio-medical problem due to high mortality and work disability rates in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Slow/no-reflow phenomena are multifactorial involving 4 key elements: 1) distal embolization of the coronary bed of the infarct-related coronary artery; 2) ischemic damage to the myocardium; 3) reperfusion injury of the heart muscle; 4) individual (genetic) susceptibility of the microcirculation to injury. Objective: To analyze the outcomes of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in patients with STEMI and TIMI 0 blood flow of an infarct-related coronary artery based on the strategy to restore antegrade blood flow (balloon predilation or dilation of an infarctrelated artery). Materials and methods: We analyzed treatment outcomes of 209 patients with STEMI and TIMI 0 blood flow. The patients were grouped based on the PCI strategy: group 1 included 147 patients who underwent balloon angioplasty to restore antegrade blood flow, and group 2 included 62 patients who underwent dilation of an infarct-related coronary artery. Results: Our study found that direct stenting in STEMI patients was associated with statistically significantly lower risk of slow/noreflow phenomena (P = 0.001, Pearson’s χ2) and, as a result, better functional outcomes of treatment (chronic heart failure grade classified according to Strazhesko-Vasilenko and by left ventricular ejection fraction) that were also statistically significant (P = 0.001, Pearson’s χ2). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the risk of slow/no-reflow phenomena in patients with TIMI 0 blood flow of an infarctrelated coronary artery was statistically significantly lower (P = .001, Pearson’s χ2) in the group of patients who underwent dilation of an infarct-related coronary artery to restore antegrade blood flow. Functional outcomes (chronic heart failure grade and overall survival) were also better in this group of patients (P = .001, Pearson’s Chi-square). Moreover, dilation of an infarct-related coronary artery was associated with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction compared with the group of patients who underwent balloon angioplasty to restore antegrade blood flow (P < 0.001, Pearson’s χ2).