Outcomes of primary percutaneous cardiac intervention for ST elevation myocardial infarction with a saphenous vein graft culprit

Background: Patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who have a history of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are at high risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Data on the risk of a saphenous vein graft (SVG)—infarct-related artery (IRA) compared to other culprit vessels are sparse. Methods: The study was based on a prospectively collected registry of 2,405 consecutive patients with STEMI attending a tertiary medical center in 2001–2017. Patients with an SVG-IRA (n = 172) were compared with patients with native vessel disease (n = 2,333) for mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACE), which included death, myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) at 1 month and 3 years. Results: The SVG-IRA group was significantly older than the native vessel group (p =.05), with no between-group differences in rates of male patients (76 vs. 82%, p =.59), diabetes (24.2 vs. 26.2%, p =.73), and renal failure (18.8 vs. 9.2%, p =.25). Mortality was higher in the SVG-IRA group at 1 month (13.9 vs. 2.5%, p <.01) and 3 years (23.9 vs. 7.4%, p <.01). At 3 years, SVG-IRA was associated with the highest rates of MACE (55.6%), compared with native vessel disease. After correction for confounders, SVG-IRA remained an independent risk factor for MACE both at 1 month (HR-2.08, 95%CI 1.72–3.11, p <.01) and 3 years (HR-2.01, 95%CI 1.28–3.09, p <.01). Conclusion: Among patients treated with pPCI for STEMI, outcomes are worse when the culprit is an SVG.