Predictors and outcomes of no-reflow phenomenon in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention

AIM: The aim of this study is to identify the predictors of angiographic no-reflow development in patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention and to investigate the long-term (median follow-up time=59 months) clinical endpoints. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 3205 patients (824 females, mean age: 58.6 years) with acute myocardial infarction (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) admitted within the first 12 h of chest pain and treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention between January 2006 and January 2010. The patients were divided into angiographic no-reflow [final Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI)<3 flow] (n=324) and reflow (final TIMI 3) (n=2881) groups. RESULTS: On multivariate logistic regression analysis age [odds ratio (OR)=1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-1.04, P=0.003], Killip class≥2 (OR=1.99, 95% CI: 1.30-3.04, P=0.002), pain-to-balloon time more than 4 h (OR=3.98, 95% CI: 2.50-6.32, P<0.001), baseline TIMI≤1 flow (OR=2.55, 95% CI: 1.05-6.22, P=0.038), lesion length of at least 15 mm (OR=4.31, 95% CI: 2.89-6.41, P<0.001), reference vessel diameter of at least 3.5 mm (OR=2.83, 95% CI: 1.87-4.27, P<0.001), cutoff occlusion pattern (OR=1.93, 95% CI: 1.03-3.62, P=0.04), and SYNTAX score of at least 19 (OR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.1.23-3.07, P<0.001)] were found as significant predictors for the development of no-reflow phenomenon. In no-reflow patients, in-hospital mortality (10.8 vs. 2.9%), heart failure (32.1 vs. 8.7%), and severe arrhythmias (23.1 vs. 9.3%) were significantly more common (P<0.001), for all. In the long-term follow-up, death (33.3 vs. 13.4%, P<0.001), advanced heart failure (12.5 vs. 5.4%, P<0.001), and stroke (3.5 vs. 1.7%, P=0.035) rates were significantly higher in the no-reflow group. CONCLUSION: The no-reflow predictors that were identified in this study might be useful in the determination of the patients who could benefit from aggressive pharmaco-invasive therapy. Development of no-reflow is associated with both in-hospital and long-term very high morbidity and mortality rates.