Aspiration thrombectomy in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (from the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey 2010)

We assessed the impact of aspiration thrombectomy (AT) in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) on major adverse cardiac events at 30 days and 1-year mortality in 517 consecutive patients who were included in the prospective, nationwide, multicenter, observational Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey in 2010. Two hundred seventeen patients (42%) underwent AT (AT-PPCI) and 300 patients conventional (C) PPCI. Both groups had similar infarct-related artery distribution and ostial or proximal culprit lesion. Patients in AT-PPCI versus C-PPCI had lower systolic blood pressure and worse Killip class on admission, more frequent Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction flow 0 or 1 before PPCI (80% vs 56%), less frequent restoration of flow after indwelling a guidewire in the infarct-related artery (32% vs 52%), and more use of IIb/IIIa glycoprotein inhibitors (69% vs 49%), respectively (p ≤0.05 for all comparisons). Thirty-day major adverse cardiac events was similar in the AT-PPCI and C-PPCI groups, 10.6% versus 9.7%, p = 0.73; adjusted odds ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.45 to 2.10, p = 0.95. One-year mortality was lower in the AT-PPCI versus C-PPCI group, 3.7% versus 6.7%, p = 0.13; adjusted hazard ratio 0.31, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.96, p = 0.042. In conclusion, this study of consecutive patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing PPCI demonstrates that AT was an independent predictor of reduced 1-year mortality.