BACKGROUND: Increased left ventricular mass index (LVMI) is associated with a greater incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but there are no data regarding its impact on infarct size. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine whether LVMI impacts on infarct size. METHODS: We analyzed consecutive patients with a first ST-elevation AMI and successful reperfusion of the culprit artery who underwent an echocardiographic assessment of LVMI and regional wall motion score index (RWMSI) <72 hours post AMI. RESULTS: Of the 165 patients (76.4% men) with a mean age of 61.0 +/- 13.9 years, 53.9% had anterior wall involvement and 59.3% had increased LVMI. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between patients with and without increased LVMI, except for a greater prevalence of hypertension among patients with increased LVMI (44.0% vs 22.4%, P < .001). The distributions of anterior wall AMI location and culprit artery involvement were similar between the groups. Patients with increased LVMI were more likely to present with single-vessel coronary artery disease (P = .04) and heart failure upon presentation (P = .03). There was no significant difference between patients with and without increased LVMI in peak creatine kinase (2106.8 +/- 1642.7 vs 2551.2 +/- 2357.4 U/L, P = .16) or RWMSI (1.62 +/- 0.44 vs 1.61 +/- 0.38, P = .91). In addition, no correlation was observed between LVMI as a continuous variable and RWMSI (r = 0.11, P = .18) or peak creatine kinase values (r = 0.02, P = .81). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with a first ST-elevation AMI and successful reperfusion, antecedent increased LVMI was fairly common and did not impact on infarct size.
BACKGROUND: Increased left ventricular mass index (LVMI) is associated with a greater incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but there are no data regarding its impact on infarct size. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine whether LVMI impacts on infarct size. METHODS: We analyzed consecutive patients with a first ST-elevation AMI and successful reperfusion of the culprit artery who underwent an echocardiographic assessment of LVMI and regional wall motion score index (RWMSI) <72 hours post AMI. RESULTS: Of the 165 patients (76.4% men) with a mean age of 61.0 +/- 13.9 years, 53.9% had anterior wall involvement and 59.3% had increased LVMI. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between patients with and without increased LVMI, except for a greater prevalence of hypertension among patients with increased LVMI (44.0% vs 22.4%, P < .001). The distributions of anterior wall AMI location and culprit artery involvement were similar between the groups. Patients with increased LVMI were more likely to present with single-vessel coronary artery disease (P = .04) and heart failure upon presentation (P = .03). There was no significant difference between patients with and without increased LVMI in peak creatine kinase (2106.8 +/- 1642.7 vs 2551.2 +/- 2357.4 U/L, P = .16) or RWMSI (1.62 +/- 0.44 vs 1.61 +/- 0.38, P = .91). In addition, no correlation was observed between LVMI as a continuous variable and RWMSI (r = 0.11, P = .18) or peak creatine kinase values (r = 0.02, P = .81). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with a first ST-elevation AMI and successful reperfusion, antecedent increased LVMI was fairly common and did not impact on infarct size.