Differential Impact on Survival of Electrocardiographic Q-Wave Versus Enzymatic Myocardial Infarction After Percutaneous Intervention

Background —The relative prognostic importance of ECG myocardial infarction (MI) after intervention compared with varying degrees of enzymatic elevation has not been characterized, and the device-specific implications of periprocedural MI are also unknown.Methods and Results —Serial creatine phosphokinase (CPK)-MB levels were determined after elective percutaneous intervention of 12 098 lesions in 7147 consecutive patients at a tertiary referral center. Procedural, in-hospital, and follow-up data were collected by independent research nurses, and clinical and ECG events were adjudicated by a separate committee. Stents were implanted in 50.6% of lesions, atheroablation was performed in 54.8%, and PTCA alone was performed in 9.8%. The peak periprocedural CPK-MB level was >3× the upper limit of normal (ULN) in 17.9% of patients, and Q-wave MI developed in 0.6%. By multivariate analysis, the periprocedural development of new Q waves was the most powerful independent determinant of death (2-year mortality rate, 38.3%; hazard ratio, 9.9;P 8× ULN was also a strong predictor of death (2-year mortality rate, 16.3%; hazard ratio, 2.2;P <0.0001); survival was unaffected by lesser degrees of CPK-MB elevation. Though CPK-MB elevation was more common after atheroablation and stenting than PTCA, the rates of Q-wave MI and survival were device-independent.Conclusions —Myonecrosis after percutaneous intervention is common in a high-risk referral population dominated by atheroablation and stent use. Large periprocedural infarctions (signified by new Q waves and CPK-MB >8×ULN) are powerful determinants of death, whereas lesser degrees of CPK-MB release and specific device use do not adversely affect survival.