S ince primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the mainstay of reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and because AMI represents the most urgent situation for PCI, recommendations based on scientific evidence and expert experience would be useful for centres practising primary PCI or those looking to set up a primary PCI programme. With this in mind, a group of eight Euro...

BACKGROUND Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with significant arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. QT prolongation can occur in the setting of ischemia or acute STEMI as a risk factor for arrhythmia. The goal of this study was to investigate corrected QT interval (QTc), QT dispersion (QTd), and T-wave peak to end (TPE) times in this patient population and evaluate the eff...

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a standard interventional treatment modality for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Diagnostic coronary angiogram during PCI reveals multivessel coronary artery disease in about half of patients with STEMI, and it is difficult to make decision on the extent of intervention in these patients. Although revascularization for the ...

Approximately 10-15% of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are found to have a chronic total occlusion (CTO) in a non-infarct related artery (IRA). The presence of a coronary CTO in a non-IRA in STEMI patients is associated with increased mortality and above average deterioration of left ventricular function. A...

AIMS To examine the incidence of and propensity for non-culprit interventions performed at the time of the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and its association with 90-day outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined the incidence, propensity for, and associated 90-day outcomes following non-culprit interventions performed at the time of primary PCI among ST-elevation myocardial ...

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a better reperfusion therapy for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction than in-hospital fibrinolytic therapy when it is performed soon after the onset of symptoms by an experienced team. Both the American and the European guidelines for the management of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction recommend that the procedure s...

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a better reperfusion therapy for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction than in-hospital fibrinolytic therapy when it is performed soon after the onset of symptoms by an experienced team. Both the American and the European guidelines for the management of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction recommend that the procedure s...

Fibrinolytic therapy (FT) and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are both well-accepted reperfusion therapies in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The evidence of randomized clinical trials indicates a relatively modest difference in 30-day mortality ( 1%) in favor of primary PCI over fibrin-specific FT and was based on very timely primary PCI (ie, a primary PCI–...

REPERFUSION THERAPY WITH THROMBOLYSIS OR PRImary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been a major advance in the treatment of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI), with a 25% reduction in mortality with thrombolysis. Primary PCI has been considered in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines in 1999 to be an alternative to thro...

BACKGROUND The value of distal protection devices during rescue PCI has not been studied. METHODS The population enrolled in a prospective, randomized multicenter trial of distal microcirculatory protection in ST-elevation MI, was stratified for those undergoing rescue (n = 93) or primary (n = 408) PCI; we performed the prespecified comparisons of distal protection in rescue and primary PCI. ...