The assessment of no-reflow phenomenon incidence in early versus delayed percutaneous coronary intervention following a primary fibrinolysis

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the gold standard approach to ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Fibrinolysis followed by PCI has been recommended. The current study aims to investigate the no-reflow phenomenon incidence in patients undergoing post-thrombolytic therapy PCI. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 patients with STEMI who primarily received fibrinolytic therapy followed by early (3-24 hours) (n=231) or delayed (> 24 hours) (n=19) PCI. They were also subcategorized into four intervals: <6 hours (n=98), 6-12 hours (n=93), 12-24 hours (n=38), and >= 24 hours (n=21). The demographic and medical data of the patients were retrieved. The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction score (TIMI) was assessed at baseline and at the end of PCI. A TIMI score other than 3 was defined as no-reflow. RESULTS: The incidence of the no-reflow phenomenon was not associated with any of the underlying demographic and medical characteristics of the patients (P-value>0.05). Despite the significantly higher rate of improvement in TIMI grading among those undergoing early PCI (P-value=0.04), as well as within less than 6 hours after thrombolytic therapy (P-value=0.031), the rate of the no-reflow phenomenon did not differ between the groups, neither by sorting them as early versus delayed (P-value=0.518) nor by categorizing them into four intervals (P-value=0.367). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the current study, early PCI after fibrinolysis led to significantly improved TIMI flow. However, the incidence of no-reflow did not differ between the groups with early versus delayed post-fibrinolysis PCI.