'Mother-in-child' thrombectomy technique: a novel and effective approach to decrease intracoronary thrombus burden in...

The presence of large thrombus burden in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is common and associated with poor prognosis. This study aimed to describe the feasibility and safety of the novel 'mother-in-child' thrombectomy (MCT) technique in patients presenting with AMI and large thrombus burden undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

We studied 13 patients presenting with AMI who underwent PCI with persistent large intracoronary thrombus after standard thrombectomy. The procedure was performed using a 5F 'Heartrail II-ST01' catheter (Terumo Medical) into a 6F guiding system. Angiographic assessment of thrombus burden and coronary flow was obtained at baseline, immediately after thrombectomy and at the end of the procedure.

The mean age was 55.9±13.0 years and involved mostly males (76.9%). All patients underwent PCI via radial approach. Following MCT Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow improved by 2 or more degrees in 11 patients (84.5%), while visible angiographic thrombus was reduced in 11 patients (84.5%). In the final angiogram, normal TIMI flow was restored in 11 patients (84.5%), with normal myocardial 'blush' in 7 patients (53.8%) and total clearance of a visible thrombus in 7 patients (53.8%). Overall, 6 patients received thrombectomy as 'stand-alone' procedure. All patients were discharged alive after a mean of 5.6±2 days.

This initial report suggests that significant reduction in thrombus burden and improvement of the coronary flow can be safely achieved in patients presenting with AMI and large thrombus burden by using the novel MCT technique.