Prediction of short- and intermediate-term prognoses of patients with acute myocardial infarction using myocardial contrast echocardiography one day after recanalization

Objectives. This study sought to determine whether microvascular integrity in the risk are (RA) for myocardial infarction (MI) one day after recanalization predicts the outcome in patients with first acute MI. Background. Immediately after recanalization, microcirculation in the R is modified by both hyperemic response and microvascular impairment. Methods. Fifty consecutive patients who underwent serial myocardial contrast echocardiography before and one day after recanalization (day 2) were studied. All patients had completely occluded lesion in the left anterior descending coronary artery alone, and underwent successful reperfusion therapy. The relative size of the initial R (R ratio) and peak gray scale ratio (PGSR) within the R on day 2 were determined. Patients were followed for median of 22 months to evaluate clinical outcome. Results. On day 2, PGSR was median of 0.46. Study patients were subdivided into two groups, group of 24 patients with acceptable opacification (PGSR > 0.46 on day 2) and group B of 26 patients without it. Major cardiac events (cardiac death, nonfatal MI and repeat admission for congestive heart failure) were more frequently observed in group B (28% vs. 4%, Cox hazard ratio = 8.5, p = 0.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03 to 69.9). The median value of the R ratio was 0.45. Patients (n = 15) with R ratio > 0.45 on day 1 and PGSR on day 2 ≤ 0.46 exhibited 10.7-fold relative risk for major cardiac events (p = 0.005, 95% CI 2.06 to 55.8) and 3.69-fold relative risk for composite cardiac events (major cardiac events and target lesion revascularizations) after the initial intervention (p = 0.004, 95% CI 1.51 to 9.04). Conclusions. The assessment of both the size of the initial R and microvascular integrity on day 2 enables precise determination of the efficacy of reperfusion therapy and prediction of the short- and intermediate-term prognoses of patients with recanalized MI.