Three-Year Outcomes With Fractional Flow Reserve-Guided or Angiography-Guided Multivessel Percutaneous Coronary

Etienne Puymirat1,2,3, Guillaume Cayla4, Tabassome Simon3,5,6

  • 1Department of Cardiology, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital européen Georges Pompidou, France (E.P., D.B., N.D.).

Insights

In ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction patients with multivessel disease, a fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided strategy for non-infarct artery treatment was not superior to angiography guidance over 3 years. Outcomes included death, myocardial infarction, or urgent revascularization.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Interventional Cardiology
  • Clinical Trials

Background:

  • Multivessel coronary artery disease in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients requires careful revascularization strategies.
  • The FLOWER-MI trial initially assessed fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided versus angiography-guided treatment of non-infarct arteries at 1 year.
  • An extension phase was planned to evaluate outcomes with longer follow-up.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if an FFR-guided strategy for complete revascularization in STEMI patients with multivessel disease is superior to an angiography-guided strategy.
  • To compare the 3-year risk of death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned urgent revascularization between FFR-guided and angiography-guided complete revascularization.

Main Methods:

  • A multicenter trial randomized 1163 STEMI patients with multivessel disease and successful infarct artery percutaneous coronary intervention.
  • Patients received complete revascularization guided by either FFR (n=586) or angiography (n=577).
  • The primary outcome was the composite of death from any cause, myocardial infarction, or unplanned hospitalization leading to urgent revascularization, assessed up to 3 years.

Main Results:

  • After 3 years, the primary outcome occurred in 9.40% of the FFR-guided group and 8.17% of the angiography-guided group (hazard ratio, 1.19; P=0.4).
  • Specific event rates: death (4.00% vs 4.32%), nonfatal myocardial infarction (4.13% vs 2.56%), and urgent revascularization (3.83% vs 3.36%).
  • Event rates were lower than anticipated in both groups.

Conclusions:

  • In STEMI patients with multivessel disease undergoing complete revascularization, an FFR-guided strategy did not demonstrate a significant benefit over angiography guidance at 3 years.
  • The study did not show superiority of FFR guidance for reducing major adverse cardiovascular events in this population.
  • Further research may be needed to explore potential benefits of FFR in specific patient subgroups or with different revascularization strategies.
Abstract

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