Impact of residual coronary artery disease on left ventricular function after percutaneous coronary intervention:...

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the residual SYNTAX score (rSS) and recovery of left ventricular function after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in stable symptomatic patients.

Overall, 81 patients (mean age: 62.3 ± 9.1 years, 72.8% male) were included in the study. Echocardiographic parameters were measured before PCI (baseline) and 3 months after PCI (follow-up). The patients were divided into two groups based on rSS: complete revascularized group (CR) with rSS = 0 (n =32; 39.5%) and incomplete revascularized group (iCR) with rSS > 0 (n = 49; 60.5%).

The median (25th-75th percentile) SYNTAX score (SS) and rSS values were 8 (5-11) and 2 (0-3), respectively. The difference between basal and follow-up global longitudinal strain (GLS) values (∆ GLS) was significantly higher in the CR group (1.25% ± 1.52 vs. 0.11% ± 1.66% p = 0.003). At the follow-up, there was a significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (58.41 ± 6.91% vs. 61.74 ± 5.76%, p < 0.001), a significant decrease in Tei index (0.46 ± 0.18 vs. 0.35 ± 0.16%, p < 0.001), and a significant increase in GLS (14.92 ± 2.76% vs. -15.49 ± 2.66%, p = 0.004). In the linear regression analysis, the only variable related to ∆ GLS was rSS (β = -0.113, 95% CI: -0.217--0.010; p = 0.033).

Increased residual coronary artery disease burden has a negative impact on recovery of left ventricular function after PCI.