Relation Between Coronary Thrombus and Angiographic No-Flow During Primary Angioplasty in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

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Abstract
No flow is an unsolved issue in primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the pathophysiology of no-flow is undetermined. To evaluate the potential participation of coronary thromboembolism in no-flow during primary PTCA, the present study reviewed cinefilms of 256 consecutive patients who underwent primary PTCA for AMI within 24 h after the onset of chest pain between January 1992 and June 1998, focusing on the thrombus size. Angiographic no-flow was defined as the cessation of flow into the distal coronary circulation of the treated vessel with a to-and-fro contrast movement, not attributable to high-grade stenosis or spasm of the original target lesion. The coronary thrombus size was determined by using the 2-cm balloon catheter as a reference after crossing the infarct-related occluded artery with a guide wire. Angiographic no-flow was observed in 37 patients (37/256, 14%): 14 of 29 cases (48%) with a large thrombus (≥2 cm) versus 23 of 227 cases (9%) with a small thrombus (Jpn Circ J 1999; 63: 849 - 853)

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