Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and in-hospital mortality of patients with angiographic acute total thrombotic occlusion presenting as non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Abstract

Abstract Background The current paradigm in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes classifies patients according to the presence of persistent ST-segment elevation as a potential marker of total coronary thrombosis, in whom immediate fibrinolysis or primary PCI is appropriate. However, patients with NSTEMI may present with a total acute thrombotic coronary occlusion and may not be detected by this approach, therefore precluding the benefits of early reperfusion strategies. Purpose To identify the prevalence of total thrombotic occlusion elicited by coronary angiography in patients with NSTEMI, and to analyze their baseline characteristics and in-hospital mortality. Methods Retrospective cohort study including consecutive patients admitted with NSTEMI in a single center over a 15-year period. Patients with coronary angiography were further classified in three groups: patients with a total angiographic coronary thrombotic occlusion (TIMI thrombus V), patients with subtotal coronary thrombus (TIMI thrombus I–IV) and patients without angiographic thrombus. Baseline characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared among the three groups. Results A total of 4216 of NSTEMI patients were admitted within the study period, of whom 3191 underwent coronary angiography and constituted in the final analytic sample. In 211 patients (6.6%) a TIMI thrombus V was found. Table 1 summarizes the main characteristics among the three groups. In the group of patients with total thrombotic occlussion, a higher proportion were male, were more prone to be current smokers, had a lower prevalence of major cardiovascular risk factors and had suffered less cardiovascular events at enrollment. During hospital follow-up, 15 (7.1%) patients within the total thrombus group, 14 (4.3%) patients within the subtotal thrombus group and 112 (4.2%) patients within the no-thrombus group died. No statistically significant differences in hospital mortality were noted when comparing total thrombotic occlusion vs. no thrombus (HR 1.69, 95% CI 0.94–3.01, p=0.07) (Figure 1). Conclusions In our study, 6.6% of the patients with NSTEMI presented an acute total thrombotic occlusion in coronary angiography. Patients with total thrombotic occlusion showed a different risk-factor profile and a similar in-hospital mortality when compared with non-total thrombus or no thrombus. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): Ignacio Chavez National Heart Institute, Mexico City, Mexico Table 1. Baseline characteristicsFigure 1. In-hospital mortality