• Francesco Burzotta, Carlo Trani, Enrico Romagnoli, Mario Attilio Mazzari, Antonio Giuseppe Rebuzzi, Maria De Vita, Barbara Garramone, Floriana Giannico, Giampaolo Niccoli, Giuseppe G L Biondi-Zoccai, Giovanni Schiavoni, Rocco Mongiardo, and Filippo Crea.
• Institute of Cardiology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. f.burzotta@eudoramail.com
• J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2005 Jul 19;46(2):371-6.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the use of a new manual thrombus-aspirating device in unselected patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing urgent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).BackgroundFailure to achieve myocardial reperfusion often occurs during PCI in patients with STEMI. The use of thrombus-aspirating devices might improve myocardial reperfusion by reducing distal embolization.MethodsWe prospectively randomized before coronary angiography 100 consecutive patients with STEMI to either standard PCI or PCI with manual thrombus-aspiration. Primary end points of the study were post-procedural rates of myocardial blush grade (MBG) > or =2 and ST-segment resolution (STR) > or =70%. Analyses were planned by intention to treat.ResultsNinety-nine patients entered the analyses. The rates of post-procedural MBG > or =2 and STR > or =70% were, respectively, 68.0% and 44.9% in the thrombus-aspiration group compared with 58.0% and 36.7% in the standard PCI group: odds ratio (OR) 2.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2 to 5.9), p = 0.020, and 2.4 (95% CI 1.1 to 5.3), p = 0.034, respectively. Moreover, the rate of patients achieving both the angiographic and electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria of optimal reperfusion was significantly higher in the thrombus-aspiration group compared with standard PCI: 46.0% versus 24.5%, OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.1 to 6.2), p = 0.025. In multivariate analysis, randomization to thrombus-aspiration was a significant independent predictor of achievement of MBG > or =2 and STR > or =70% (p = 0.013).ConclusionsThis prospective randomized study shows that manual thrombus-aspiration in unselected patients with STEMI undergoing primary or rescue PCI is clinically feasible and results in better angiographic and ECG myocardial reperfusion rates compared with those achieved by standard PCI.

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