Timing of Coronary Angiography After Successful Fibrinolytic Therapy in ST-Segment Elevated Myocardial Infarction

Background: We aimed to compare outcomes of patients received successful fibrinolytic treatment (FT) for ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) and performed coronary angiography (CAG) within 24 - 72 h or after 72 h.

Methods: Between March 2013 and November 2014, 76 STEMI patients received successful FT and performed CAG > 24 h were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the time-interval from FT admission to CAG performing (Group-1, 24 - 72 h (n = 29), Group-2, > 72 h (n = 47)). The primary end point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE) defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and heart failure.

Results: The mean age of patients were 56 ± 11.4 years old (27.6% female). CAG was performed within mean 2.17 ± 0.38 days in the Group-1 and 2.9 ± 11.5 days in the Group 2 (P < 0.001). At short-term follow-up (6 months), MACE rate was higher in Group-2 (21.3%) than Group-1(13.8%), but it was not statistically significant (P = 0.661). The rate of MACE was 37.9% in Group-1 and 38.3% in Group-2 (P = 0.974) in the long-term follow-up (median: 57 months). Overall cardiac mortality rate was 7.9%, the re-infarction rate was 19.7% and heart failure was 17.1% in long-term follow-up, and there were no significant difference between groups.

Conclusions: Present study has shown that performance of CAG after 24 h of successful FT, within 24 - 74 h or > 72 h, did not shown any difference in term of MACE both in short and long-term follow-up.