Multivessel PCI during STEMI associated with higher short- and long-term mortality

Two new studies published this week confirm clinical recommendations that a deferred angioplasty strategy of nonculprit lesions should remain the standard interventional approach in patients with ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) undergoing primary PCI.

In the first study, an analysis of the Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction (HORIZONS AMI) study, investigators, led by Dr Ron Kornowski (Tel Aviv University, Israel), observed significantly higher one-year mortality and stent-thrombosis rates among patients undergoing multivessel PCI compared with individuals undergoing staged PCI.

In the second study, a meta-analysis that included 18 studies and more than 40 000 patients, the investigators report that multivessel PCI was associated with the highest rates of death in short- and long-term follow-up when compared with culprit-lesion PCI and staged PCI.

Dr Pieter Vlaar (University Medical Center, Groningen, the Netherlands), the lead researcher of the meta-analysis, told that the results support current guidelines discouraging multivessel primary PCI for STEMI patients. That said, the guidelines are not based on large randomized controlled clinical trials, and this had led to some confusion and variability across different centers. Even at their institution, Vlaar said clinicians differ in their opinions about whether nonculprit lesions should be treated during the initial intervention. However, these new data suggest that when significant nonculprit lesions are suitable for PCI, "they should be treated only during staged interventions."

Both studies, as well as an accompanying editorial, are published in the August 9, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.