Oxygen therapy in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction based on the culprit vessel: results from the...

Oxygen (O₂) treatment has been a cornerstone in the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction. Recent studies, however, state that supplemental O₂ therapy may have no effect or harmful effects in these patients. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the effect of O₂ therapy in patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) based on the culprit vessel; Left Anterior Descending Artery (LAD) or Non-LAD.

This was a two-center, investigator-initiated, single-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial at the Skåne university hospital, Sweden. A simple computer-generated randomization was used. Patients were either randomized to standard care with O₂ therapy (10 l/min) or air until the end of the primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The patients underwent a Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMRI) days 2-6. The main outcome measures were Myocardium at Risk (MaR), Infarct Size (IS) and Myocardial Salvage Index (MSI) as measured by CMRI, and median high-sensitive troponin T (hs-cTnT).

A total of 229 patients were assessed for eligibility, and 160 of them were randomized to the oxygen or air arm. Because of primarily technical problems with the CMRI, 95 patients were included in the final analyses; 46 in the oxygen arm and 49 in the air arm. There were no significant differences between patients with LAD and Non-LAD as culprit vessel with regard to their allocation (oxygen or air) with regards to MSI, MaR, IS and hs-cTnT.

The results indicate that the location of the culprit vessel has probably no effect on the role of supplemental oxygen therapy in STEMI patients.

Swedish Medical Products Agency (EudraCT No. 2011-001452-11) and ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT01423929).