Long-term recurrent events in ST-elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease. The impact of different revascularization strategies.

INTRODUCTION:The benefit of complete revascularization (CR) on long-term total event reduction in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel disease (MVD), still remains unclear. We assessed the efficacy of three different revascularization strategies on long-term total recurrent events. METHODS:We retrospectively analyzed 414 consecutive patients admitted with STEMI and MVD who were categorized according to the revascularization strategy used: culprit-vessel-only percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n=163); in-hospital CR (n=136); and delayed CR (n=115). The combined endpoint assessed was all-cause mortality, the total number of myocardial infarctions, ischemia-driven revascularizations or strokes. Negative binomial regression was used to assess the association between the revascularization strategy and total events; risk estimates were expressed as an incidence rates ratio (IRR). RESULTS:At a median follow-up of four years (1.2-6), rates of the combined endpoint per 10 patient-years were 18, 0.8, and 0.6 in culprit-vessel-only PCI, in-hospital CR, and delayed CR strategies, respectively (p<0.001). After multivariable adjustment and when compared with culprit-vessel-only PCI, both in-hospital and delayed CR strategies were significantly associated with a reduction in the combined endpoint (IRR=0.40: 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.25-0.64; p<0.001; and IRR 0.40: 95% CI, 0.24-0.62; p<0.001, respectively). No differences were observed across in-hospital and delayed CR strategies. CONCLUSIONS:Complete revascularization of non-culprit lesions in patients with STEMI and MVD reduces the risk of total recurrent events during long-term follow-up. No differences between in-hospital and delayed CR strategies were found.