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Updated: May 10, 2026

Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
Published on: March 15, 2022
Periprocedural myocardial damage during percutaneous coronary intervention: a point-of-care platelet testing and
Marcin Michalak1, Zenon Huczek, Krzysztof J Filipiak
11st Department of Cardiology, The Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Insights
Lesion morphology, specifically positive remodelling and fibro-fatty tissue volume, independently predicts myocardial injury after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Platelet reactivity did not predict injury, suggesting morphology is key in periprocedural myocardial damage.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Myocardial injury during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be linked to platelet reactivity and lesion morphology.
- These factors have not been simultaneously investigated in a single patient population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between on-treatment platelet reactivity, lesion morphology, plaque components, and periprocedural myocardial injury in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting.
- To determine predictors of periprocedural myocardial damage (PMD) and periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI).
Main Methods:
- Sixty patients undergoing elective PCI with stent implantation were included.
- On-treatment platelet reactivity was assessed using VerifyNow Aspirin and P₂Y₁₂ assays.
- Grey-scale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and virtual histology were performed to analyze lesion morphology and plaque components.
Main Results:
- Remodelling index (RI), fibro-fatty tissue volume (FFT), and external elastic membrane cross-sectional area (EEM CSA) were significant predictors of PMD.
- RI was the only independent predictor of PMI.
- Platelet reactivity assays (VerifyNow Aspirin and P₂Y₁₂) did not predict PMD or PMI.
Conclusions:
- Positive remodelling at the lesion site and high fibro-fatty tissue volume are independently associated with an increased risk of myocardial injury after elective PCI.
- Lesion morphology, particularly RI, appears to be a more significant predictor of myocardial injury than platelet reactivity or complex plaque analysis.
- These findings highlight the importance of lesion characteristics in predicting outcomes following PCI.
Background:
Recent studies have implied that platelet reactivity as well as certain lesion morphology may be linked to myocardial injury during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, to date the abovementioned features have not been investigated simultaneously in one population.
Aim:
To determine if and how high on-treatment platelet reactivity, different lesion morphology, and plaque components are associated with increased risk of periprocedural myocardial injury in patients referred for elective coronary stenting.
Methods:
Sixty patients pretreated with aspirin and clopidogrel and undergoing elective PCI with stent(s) implantation were included. On-treatment platelet reactivity was measured with VerifyNow Aspirin and P₂Y₁₂ assays (Accumetrics, USA) before PCI. Grey-scale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and virtual histology were performed before stent(s) implantation (Volcano, USA). Two levels of myocardial injury were considered: any elevation of troponin I (periprocedural myocardial damage, PMD) and/or > 3 times the upper normal limit (periprocedural myocardial infarction, PMI).
Results:
By receiver-operating characteristics analysis, the following factors, ranked from strongest to weakest, were able to distinguish between patients with and without PMD: remodelling index (RI), fibrous tissue, fibro-fatty tissue volume (FFT), plaque and media cross-sectional area, and external elastic membrane cross-sectional area (EEM CSA). Only platelet count and RI could differentiate patients with and without PMI. PMD as well as PMI could not be predicted either by VerifyNow Aspirin or P₂Y₁₂ assay. Likewise, there was no association between necrotic core volume and PMD or PMI. In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for possible clinical and procedural confounding factors, only EEM CSA > 14.6 mm² (OR 23.7, 95% CI 1.9-302, p = 0.015), RI > 1.044 (OR 12.3, 95% CI 1.2-121.9, p = 0.032) and FFT > 11.2 mm³ (OR 13.6, 95% CI 1.1-160.9, p = 0.038) were independent predictors of PMD. Only RI > 1.044 was identified as an independent predictor of PMI (OR 7.5, 95% CI 1.92-29.6, p = 0.004).
Conclusions:
Greater total vessel area, positive remodelling at the lesion site, and high volume of FFT in the coronary plaque are independently associated with increased risk of myocardial injury. Only positive RI was an independent predictor of PMI. Simple lesion morphology, rather than more complex VH-IVUS analysis or platelet reactivity, seems to predict myocardial injury after elective PCI.

