Prevalence and extent of infarct and microvascular obstruction following a range of reperfusion techniques in ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Background Cardiac MRI (CMR) provides unique characterization of myocardial injury post acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). It is the gold standard for non-invasive measurement of Infarct Size (IS) and tissue perfusion during STEMI. Microvascular obstruction describes suboptimal tissue perfusion despite restoration of flow in the infarct-related artery (IRA). IS and MVO are independent predictors of adverse remodelling and prognosis post STEMI. MVO is generally assumed to be related primarily to reperfusion. There is a paucity of data on the prevalence and extent of MVO in clinical practice using a range of different reperfusion methods, and in particular in those without reperfusion. We hypothesize that the extent and presence of MVO are primarily related to the extent of ischaemia than reperfusion per se.