The Effect of Acute Administration of Statins on Coronary Microcirculation During the Pre-revascularization Period in Patients with Myocardial Infraction

Unlabelled: The beneficial effects of statin pretreatment as well as of staccato reperfusion (SR) on myocardium have been demonstrated in patients undergoing cardiac interventions. In this study, we compared the effects of the acute statin administration prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the effects of staccato or abrupt reperfusion on coronary microcirculation in patients with myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: We randomly assigned 47 patients who had ST-elevation or non-ST-elevation MI 48 h prior to PCI, into three groups: staccato reperfusion (consisting of 6 periods of 10-s balloon inflation/deflation) plus statin therapy (SRSG), statin therapy plus abrupt reperfusion (SG), and abrupt reperfusion alone (ARG). Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) was performed to assess the blood volume (A), velocity (β) and flow (A × β) of the segments associated with the PCI-treated artery the day following intervention and 30 days after. LV end-diastolic (EDV) and systolic volumes (ESVs), wall motion score index (WMSI) were evaluated.

Results: Compared to ARG, SRSG and SG resulted in a greater improvement in A, β and A × β (F = 20.6, p < 0.001 for A, F = 3.5, p = 0.03 for β and F = 11.3, p < 0.001 for A × β for the overall effect of intervention) as well as a greater decrease of WMSI, EDV and ESV (p < 0.01) one month post-PCI. The changes of all echocardiography markers were greater in SRSG than SG (p < 0.01). The % changes in ESV correlated with the corresponding % changes in MCE indices in SRSG and SG (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The acute statin administration prior to reperfusion either alone or in synergy with staccato reperfusion ameliorates coronary microcirculatory dysfunction in patients with myocardial infarction.