Risk factors of cardiac arrest during a percutaneous coronary intervention performed with rotational atherectomy -...

Rotational atherectomy (RA) is traditionally administered for patients with heavily calcified lesions and is thereby characterized by a high risk of the performed intervention. However, the prevalence characteristics of cardiac arrest are poorly studied in this group of patients. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and risk factors of cardiac arrest during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed with RA and preceding coronary angiography (CA).

Based on the data collected in the Polish Registry of Invasive Cardiology Procedures (ORPKI) from 2014 to 2021, we included 6522 patients who were treated with RA-assisted PCI. We scrutinized patient and procedural characteristics, as well as periprocedural complications, subsequently comparing groups in terms of cardiac arrest incidence with the use of univariable and multivariable analyses.

Thirty-five (0.5%) patients suffered from cardiac arrest during RA-PCI or preceding CA. They were characterized by significantly higher rates of prior stroke, acute coronary syndromes (ACS) as indications and higher Killip class (P < 0.001) at the admission time. Among the confirmed independent predictors of in-procedure cardiac arrest, the following can be noted: factors related to patients' clinical characteristics (e.g., older age, female sex, and disease burden), periprocedural characteristics (e.g., PCI within left main coronary artery [LMCA]), and periprocedural complications (e.g., coronary artery perforation and no-reflow phenomenon).

Severe clinical condition at baseline, expressed by ACS presence and Killip class IV, as well as RA-PCI performed within LMCA and other periprocedural complications, were the strongest predictors of cardiac arrest during RA-assisted PCI and CA.