Myocardial salvage after failed coronary angioplasty

Patients undergoing coronary angioplasty have a 2% to 7% risk of requiring emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery for impending infarction. These patients provide a unique model of early reperfusion because the exact time of compromise to blood flow and the composition of the reperfusion solution are known. However, the amount of myocardium salvaged is unknown. Between December 1981 and September 1985, 859 patients underwent coronary angioplasty. Forty-two patients had emergency surgery for objective evidence of impending infarction. Five patients died. Thirty-six patients were contacted for follow-up; 21 (58%) of 36 had a radionuclide ventriculogram performed at a mean of 39 +/- 13 months after surgery. These radionuclide studies were compared with the patient's preangioplasty contrast ventriculogram. One patient had a myocardial infarction 3 years after surgery. Eleven (55%) of the remaining 20 patients had a normal radionuclide ventriculogram at follow-up study (ejection fraction 65 +/- 9%). Five (25%) of the 20 patients had a depressed ejection fraction (46 +/- 4%) with wall motion abnormalities, but these were unchanged from the preangioplasty studies. Four patients (20%) had a significant decrease in ejection fraction over baseline (37 +/- 10%) with new wall motion abnormalities.

1) there is an 80% chance that left ventricular function will be unchanged at 3 year follow-up study in patients surviving emergency bypass grafting for failed angioplasty; 2) these data suggest that early revascularization for impending infarction in this setting is associated with a good late outcome; and 3) this patient group offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of early reperfusion in a human model.