Primary coronary angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

In some patients with acute myocardial infarction, thrombolytic therapy may be limited by its failure to reperfuse the occluded artery, by recurrent ischemia (despite initially successful reperfusion), and by major hemorrhagic complications. Primary coronary angioplasty may circumvent these limitations. This article reviews the results of primary angioplasty reported in patients with myocardial infarction and makes recommendations for its use. The review includes pertinent articles found in the English language literature from July 1987 to July 1993 on MEDLINE. Nonrandomized series of primary angioplasty in acute myocardial infarction have demonstrated high procedural success rates (86% to 99%) and infrequent recurrent ischemia (4%). Two randomized trials comparing primary angioplasty and thrombolytic therapy have shown that primary angioplasty results in lower mortality, less recurrent ischemia, shorter length of hospital stay, and improved left ventricular function. Two other randomized studies have shown little benefit from primary angioplasty on myocardial salvage, recurrent ischemia, or ventricular function. One major limitation of primary angioplasty is that it requires 24-hour availability of a catheterization laboratory and experienced surgical personnel. Primary angioplasty may be the preferred approach in patients with extensive myocardial infarction who have immediate (< 120 min) access to a cardiac catheterization laboratory with experienced personnel. Patients having 1) contraindications to thrombolytic therapy, 2) cardiogenic shock, 3) prior coronary bypass surgery, or 4) "stuttering" onset of pain may also benefit from primary angioplasty. Poor candidates for this procedure are those with a small myocardial infarction, those in whom undue delays in access to a cardiac catheterization facility would be expected, or those with complex coronary anatomy, including left main coronary artery disease.