Post Conditioning in PCI for Acute ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

In patients who suffer a myocardial infarction, the blood flow usually ceases due to plaque rupture leading to thrombus formation and vessel occlusion. The resultant entity is known as ST Elevation segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) and is a significant health issue in industrialized countries. There are over 50,000 STEMI's every year in Canada and up to 10% of these patients die in hospital and another 10% die within the first year after their heart attack. The more common problem however is not death, but irreparable damage to the left ventricle leading to LV dysfunction and subsequent heart failure and arrythmias. Re-establishing blood flow promptly by administering plasminogen activators (lytics) or mechanically by performing angioplasty is possible and has lowered the mortality rate dramatically.

Although reperfusion is necessary, it gives rise to an entity known as ischemia-reperfusion where acutely re-establishing blood flow and oxygen levels of the heart has detrimental effects. Clinically this is manifested as no-reflow that causes subsequent damage to the left ventricle and decreases the beneficial affect of early reperfusion by PCI. The ischemia-reperfusion effect sets off a molecular cascade of events involving unfavorable interaction between neutrophils, platelets and endothelium, that is fairly well identified. Efforts to pharmacologically block this effect have not proven to be particularly effective.

Post conditioning follows from a concept of pre-conditioning in animals that showed a decrease in myocardial infarct size. Pre-conditioning is not useful as it requires to be performed prior to the development of ischemia/injury. Post conditioning in preliminary studies with animals and one small study in humans have shown promising results for decrease in infarct size. Post conditioning is a procedure of gradual conditioning in which the artery is opened and closed in cycles with inflation/deflation of the culprit artery followed immediately by standard PCI and placement of stent.

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years and over
• ST elevation of >/= 2mm in 3 consecutive anterior leads or >/= to 2 mm in leads II, III and AVF with total 8 mm ST shift (ST depression of 1 mm in ant or lat leads)

Exclusion criteria

• Cardiogenic shock or severe heart failure
• Inability to undergo CMR (metallic objects or claustrophobia)
• Previous MI
• TIMI 2-3 flow in target artery
• Collaterals to infarct related artery > Rentrop grade 1
• Inability to undertake successful PCI at time of angio
• Significant LM disease or requiring CABG during hospital stay
• Inability to proceed with post conditioning within 1 minute of establishing blood flow in culprit artery