Background: Timely myocardial reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) prevents the development of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI). We aimed to investigate whether bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug eluting stents (DES) differently affect the recovery of LV function in patients with ST-elevation MI (STEMI).
Methods: Overall 103anterior STEMI patients were retrospectively analyzed. All patients had single vessel disease with culprit lesion at the left anterior descending coronary artery. Patients were categorized in DES group (N.=67) and BMS group (N.=36). Changes in LV contractility were assessed by trans-thoracic echocardiogram as Left Ventricular Wall Motion Score Index (LVWMSI). Follow-up visits were performed between 6 and 12 months after hospital discharge.
Results: Compared to baseline, LV ejection fraction (EF) remained unchanged between the two groups at the follow-up; LVWMSI significantly improved in patients treated with DES (1.95±0.25 vs. 1.78±0.38, P<0.05), whereas did not change in those treated with BMS (2.09±0.21 vs. 1.98±0.33, P: not significant). At follow-up the LVWMSI was significantly higher in patients with DES than with BMS (P=0.048). LV end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes (LVESV, LVEDV) significantly increased in patients receiving a BMS, whereas it did not change in those receiving a DES (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis adjusted for age, gender, type of stent (DES or BMS), and type of revascularization (primary PCI or rescue PCI or thrombolysis + PCI) showed that DES implantation was an independent predictor of LVWMSI improvement (OR: 3.8 [1.143-12.969] P=0.03).
Conclusions: DES implantation is associated with a favorable impact on LV remodeling and regional contractility.