Effects of no-reflow phenomenon on ventricular systolic synchrony in patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction after percutaneous coronary intervention

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of no-reflow phenomenon on ventricular systolic synchrony via myocardial blush grades (MBGs) in patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients and methods: All patients were divided into two groups and assessed by MBGs. To observe the parameters of the left ventricular function and left ventricular systolic synchrony, equilibrium radionuclide angiography was performed 1 week after PCI and repeated 6 months after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Measurement data were compared and analyzed by the Student's t-test, and the count data were evaluated by the chi(2) test. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess the contribution of confounding factors. Results: A total of 100 patients were enrolled in this study: 26 in the no-reflow and 74 in the reflow group. There was no significant difference in terms of age, sex, hypertension history, diabetes history, hyperlipidemia history, and smoking history between the two groups. However, the incidence rate of heart failure with Killip's grade >= 2 in the no-reflow group was significantly higher than that in the reflow group (38.46% vs 18.92%, P < 0.05). Six months after the AMI-PCI, the left ventricular ejection fraction, peak ejection rate, and peak filling rate in the no-reflow group were significantly lower than those in the reflow group (t=2.21, 2.29, and 2.03, P < 0.05 for all comparisons), but the values of the time to peak ejection rate, time to peak filling rate, phase shift, full width at half maximum, and peak phase standard deviation were all higher (t=2.41, 2.46, 2.00, 2.55, and 2.49, P < 0.05 for all comparisons), and the incidence rate of major adverse cardiac events in the no-reflow group was also more elevated than that in the reflow group (53.85% vs 8.11%, chi(2)=34.49, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The no-reflow phenomenon identified by MBGs reflects the no-reperfusion status in the myocardium in the infarction-related zone after AMI. The directly caused reduction in the left ventricular systolic synchrony performance leads to adverse long-term outcomes in patients with AMI.