Incidence of left ventricle thrombus formation in patients with STEMI in the current era of antithrombotic treatment

Abstract

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements None. Introduction Left ventricular (LV) thrombus formation is a serious complication of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) which may result in ischemic stroke and systemic thromboembolism. There is limited evidence on the incidence and impact of LV thrombus in STEMI patients in the current era of antithrombotic treatment. Purpose To evaluate the incidence of LV thrombus formation in STEMI patients and to assess clinical predictor factors of LV thrombus formation leading to in-hospital major cardiac events (MACCE). Methods We prospective collected data from 504 STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) in our large volume university hospital from April 2019 to September 2019. All patients underwent echocardiography examination at presentation and at hospital discharge. Results Mean age of the patients was 66.2 years and 78.8% were male. The incidence of LV thrombus formation was 5% in overall cohort and 9.4% in anterior STEMI. Among patients with LV thrombus, the majority had anterior STEMI (96% vs 48.4%; p<0.001), lower LV ejection fraction (LVEF)(35% vs 43%; P<0.001), more increased LV dimension /volume (36%vs7.3%; p<0.001), more apical aneurism/dyskinesia presence (36% vs 9%; p<0.001), longer ischemia time (25 hours vs 14 hours; p<0.002), more increased TPI values (p-0.22) and underwent less coronary angiography (p<0.02) and primary PCI (P=0.021). Increased LV dimension/volume was associated with 3.35 times higher risk of having LV thrombus (p=0.023). Also anterior STEMI was associated with 14 times higher risk of having LV thrombus=0.012. Patients with LV thrombus had a numerically higher incidence of in-hospital MACCE events (20% vs 13.5%; p=0.36). Conclusion The incidence of LV thrombus formation in STEMI still remain high regardless of primary PCI treatment and current antithrombotic treatment, and is higher in patients with anterior STEMI, lower LVEF, adverse ventricular remodeling, apical aneurism/dyskinesia presence, late hospital presentation and longer ischemia time. The presence of LV thrombus was independently associated with in-hospital MACCE events.