Cost assessment of treatment of acute myocardial infarction and angiographically visible coronary thrombus

AIM: Study was aimed to assess the real-world costs of manual thrombectomy (MT) in selected ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients with intracoronary thrombus (IT). METHODS: Study group (IT+) comprised 51 patients with MT applied and control group (IT-) comprised 56 patients without IT who underwent angioplasty alone. Costs comprised hospital care and cost of disposable materials used during primary angioplasty. RESULTS: Complex management of patients with IT is more expensive, though allows to achieve clinical outcomes comparable to low-risk ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients without IT. CONCLUSION: A complex pharmaco-interventional strategy, with glycoprotein IIB/IIIA inhibitor and MT, though more expensive, may prove cost-effective.