Background: Asymptomatic acute ischemic stroke (aAIS) following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has not been studied in detail.
Methods and results: Of 75 patients who underwent p-PCI, 26 (34.7%) developed aAIS as determined by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Including the approach to the coronary artery (via lower limb or right upper limb), 23 factors were compared between patients with (n=26) and without (n=49) aAIS. Age, hypertension, smoking, plasma glucose levels, Killip grade, right coronary artery (RCA) as culprit vessel, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) time, and the frequency of device insertion into the coronary artery differed in a statistically significant manner. However, multivariate analysis showed that the RCA (odds ratio 3.477) and the frequency of device insertion (1.375) were independent factors linked to the incidence of aAIS. Moreover, anterior or posterior location and left or right cerebral circulation of aAIS were equivalent in both approaches.
Conclusions: Cranial MRI images following emergency PCI revealed that 34.7% of the patients with ACS had aAIS that might be caused by manipulating the catheter or devices in the ascending aorta, micro-air bubble embolism during injection, or micro-thrombus embolism derived from the ACS lesions during the PCI procedure.