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(Circulation. 1996;93:1496-1501.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

A Patent Infarct-Related Artery Is Associated With Reduced Long-term Mortality After Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty for Postinfarction Ischemia and an Ejection Fraction <50%

Francine K. Welty, MD, PhD; Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH; Stanley M. Lewis, MD; Wendy L. Kowalker, BS; Robert W. Healy, MD; Samuel J. Shubrooks, Jr, MD; James E. Muller, MD

From the Cardiovascular Division, Institute for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

Correspondence to Francine K. Welty, MD, PhD, Institute for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, 1 Autumn St, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02215.

Background Prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI) is influenced by the presence of post-MI ischemia and possibly the patency of the infarct-related artery. The purpose of this study was to compare long-term outcome (reinfarction and death) in patients with open versus closed coronary arteries after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty performed for MI complicated by persistent ischemia.

Methods and Results Between 1981 and 1989, 505 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty for post-MI ischemia at the Deaconess Hospital. Long-term incidence (mean follow-up, 34 months) of death, nonfatal reinfarction, repeated coronary angioplasty, and coronary bypass surgery was determined for 479 patients and then compared on the basis of the status of the artery, open versus closed, at the end of angioplasty. The 5-year Kaplan-Meier actuarial mortality rate was 4.9% for 456 patients with open infarct-related arteries and 19.4% for 23 patients with closed infarct-related arteries (P=.0008). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses controlling for age, sex, number of diseased vessels, type and location of MI, and year of coronary angioplasty revealed a hazard ratio for death for closed compared with open arteries of 6.1 (95% CI, 1.8 to 20.0). Among patients with ejection fractions <50%, a closed artery was associated with a higher mortality (P=.0014) compared with patients with open arteries. The status of the artery was not associated with a difference in mortality in patients with ejection fractions 50%.

Conclusions An open artery after coronary angioplasty for post-MI ischemia is associated with significantly lower long-term mortality, particularly in patients with ejection fractions <50%.

Key Words: angioplasty • ischemia • mortality • myocardial infarction

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