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A sizeable number of patients without standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (SMuRFs), such as hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and smoking, suffer from acute coronary syndrome (ACS). These SMuRF-less patients have high short-term morbidity and mortality. We compared both short- and long-term outcomes of SMuRF-less and SMuRF ACS patients in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort.This was a retrospective study of patients with first ACS from 2011 to 2017. The primary outcome was long-term all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were 30-day all-cause mortality, cardiac-mortality, unplanned cardiac readmission, cardiogenic shock, heart failure, and stroke. Subgroup analysis was carried out by sex and ACS type.Of 5400 patients, 8.6% were SMuRF-less. The median follow-up time was 6.3 years (interquartile range [IQR] 4.2-8.2 years). SMuRF-less patients were younger and tended to present with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). They were more likely to require inotropic support, intubation, and have cardiac arrest. At 30 days, SMuRF-less patients had higher rates of all-cause mortality, cardiac-related mortality and cardiogenic shock, but lower rates of heart failure. At 6 years, all-cause mortality was similar in both groups (18.0% versus 17.1% respectively, p = 0.631). Kaplan-Meier curves showed increased early mortality in the SMuRF-less group, but the divergence in survival curves was no longer present in the long-term. The absence of SMuRF was an independent predictor of mortality, regardless of sex or ACS type.In a multi-ethnic cohort of patients with ACS, SMuRF-less patients were observed to have higher mortality than SMuRF patients during the early stages which was attenuated over time., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: The clinical significance of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is not yet fully understood. We aimed to examine differences in clinical and procedural characteristics, clinical management, and outcomes in patients with CAE undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)., Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients presenting with STEMI with a culprit native coronary artery from July 2015 to June 2019. Patients were divided into CAE and Non-CAE groups as detected on coronary angiography during PPCI. Comparison between groups was made for baseline clinical and procedural characteristics, as well as complications, pharmacological treatment, and follow-up outcomes., Results: 36/1780 (2.0%) patients were found to have CAE. Patients with CAE had a median age of 57.1 ± 11.7 years and were more likely to be male 33/36 (91.7%). Diabetes was less commonly seen in the CAE group (11.1% vs 31.4%, p = 0.010), and there were no differences in the proportion of patients with hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Patients with CAE had more involvement of right coronary artery (RCA) culprit vessel (63.9% vs. 38.4%, p = 0.026), less coronary stenting (25.0% vs 87.2%, p < 0.001) and post-PPCI TIMI 3 flow (69.4% vs 95.5%, P < 0.001), and were more likely to be discharged with oral anticoagulants (36.1% vs 7.6%, p < 0.001). At 3-year follow-up, all-cause mortality rates were higher in the non-CAE group (0.0% vs 11.5%, p < 0.028), suggesting that CAE was not associated with unfavorable long-term outcome. On multivariate analysis, CAE was not an independent predictor of MACE., Conclusion: Despite lower rates of post-PPCI TIMI 3 flow, CAE was not associated with unfavorable long-term outcome., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The pandemic has led to adverse short-term outcomes for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). It is unknown if this translates to poorer long-term outcomes. In Singapore, the escalation of the outbreak response on February 7, 2020 demanded adaptation of STEMI care to stringent infection control measures. A total of 321 patients presenting with STEMI and undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention at a tertiary hospital were enrolled and followed up over 1-year. They were allocated into three groups based on admission date-(1) Before outbreak response (BOR): December 1, 2019-February 6, 2020, (2) During outbreak response (DOR): February 7-March 31, 2020, and (3) control group: November 1-December 31, 2018. The incidence of cardiac-related mortality, cardiac-related readmissions, and recurrent coronary events were examined. Although in-hospital outcomes were worse in BOR and DOR groups compared to the control group, there were no differences in the 1-year cardiac-related mortality (BOR 8.7%, DOR 7.1%, control 4.8%, p = 0.563), cardiac-related readmissions (BOR 15.1%, DOR 11.6%, control 12.0%, p = 0.693), and recurrent coronary events (BOR 3.2%, DOR 1.8%, control 1.2%, p = 0.596). There were higher rates of additional PCI during the index admission in DOR, compared to BOR and control groups (p = 0.027). While patients admitted for STEMI during the pandemic may have poorer in-hospital outcomes, their long-term outcomes remain comparable to the pre-pandemic era., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Biodegradable polymer drug eluting stents (BP-DES) may offer the advantage of vascular healing in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Long-term outcome data comparing BP-DES and second-generation durable polymer drug eluting stents (DP-DES) in STEMI is lacking. This study aims to compare the long-term clinical outcomes of BP-DES versus second-generation DP-DES in STEMI., Methods: This is an observational study of consecutive patients with STEMI who received either BP-DES (n = 854) or DP-DES (n = 708) during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from 1st February 2007 to 31st December 2016. The primary outcome was target lesion failure (TLF), a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (MI), and target lesion revascularization with follow up till 30th November 2019., Results: The baseline demographics, lesion and procedural characteristic were similar between the two groups except for more prior MI and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the BP-DES group. At a median follow up of 4.2 years (interquartile range: 2.6-6.2 years), the incidence of TLF was similar between BP-DES and DP-DES (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70-1.26). Likewise, incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE: all-cause death, any MI or target vessel revascularization) and definite stent thrombosis were similar in both groups (MACE: adjusted HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.82-1.32; definite stent thrombosis: adjusted HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.31-3.64)., Conclusion: Among patients with STEMI who underwent primary PCI, BP-DES and DP-DES implantation was associated with similar long-term clinical outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Joshua P. Loh and Dr. Huay Cheem Tan received institutional research grant from Boston Scientific., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Gender differences historically exist in cardiovascular disease, with women experiencing higher rates of major adverse cardiovascular events. We investigated these trends in a contemporary Asian cohort, examining the impact of gender differences on cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)., Materials and Methods: We analysed 3971 consecutive patients who underwent primary PCI for STEMI retrospectively. The primary outcome was cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke in-hospital, at one year and on longer-term follow up (median follow up 3.62 years, interquartile range 1.03-6.03 years)., Results: There were 580 (14.6%) female patients and 3391 (85.4%) male patients. Female patients were older and had higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, previous strokes, and chronic kidney disease. Cardiac mortality was higher in female patients during in-hospital (15.5% vs. 6.2%), 1-year (17.4% vs. 7.0%) and longer term follow up (19.9% vs. 8.1%, log-rank test: p < 0.001). Similarly, females had higher incidence of ischemic stroke at in-hospital (2.6% vs. 1.0%), 1-year (3.6% vs. 1.4%) and in the longer-term (6.7% vs. 3.1%) as well (log-rank test: p < 0.001). Female gender remained an independent predictor of in-hospital cardiac mortality (HR 1.395, 95%CI 1.061-1.833, p=0.017) and on longer-term follow-up (HR 1.932 95%CI 1.212-3.080, p=0.006) even after adjusting for confounders., Conclusions: Females were at higher risk of in-hospital and long-term cardiac mortality and ischemic stroke after PPCI for STEMI. Future studies are warranted to investigate the role of aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors and follow-up to improve outcomes in the females with STEMI., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None reported. The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) requiring primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) worldwide. In this review we examine the global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence of STEMI admissions, and relationship between the pandemic and door to balloon time (D2B), all-cause mortality, and other secondary STEMI outcomes., Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to primarily compare D2B time and in-hospital mortality of STEMI patients who underwent primary PCI during and before the pandemic. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate the influence of geographical region and income status of a country on STEMI care. An online database search included studies that compared the aforementioned outcomes of STEMI patients during and before the pandemic., Results: In total, 32 articles were analyzed. Overall, 19,140 and 68,662 STEMI patients underwent primary PCI during and before the pandemic, respectively. Significant delay in D2B was observed during the pandemic (weighted mean difference, 8.10 minutes; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.90-12.30 minutes; P = 0.0002; I 2  = 90%). In-hospital mortality was higher during the pandemic (odds ratio [OR], 1.27; 95% CI, 1.09-1.49; P = 0.002; I 2  = 36%), however this varied with factors such as geographical location and income status of a country. Subgroup analysis showed that low-middle-income countries observed a higher rate of mortality during the pandemic (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.13-2.05; P = 0.006), with a similar but insignificant trend seen among the high income countries (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.95-1.44; P = 0.13)., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with worse STEMI performance metrics and clinical outcome, particularly in the Eastern low-middle-income status countries. Better strategies are needed to address these global trends in STEMI care during the pandemic., (Copyright © 2021 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Little is known about the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the outbreak response measures on door-to-balloon time (D2B). This study examined both D2B and clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).Methods and Results:This was a retrospective study of 303 STEMI patients who presented directly or were transferred to a tertiary hospital in Singapore for PPCI from October 2019 to March 2020. We compared the clinical outcomes of patients admitted before (BOR) and during (DOR) the COVID-19 outbreak response. The study outcomes were in-hospital death, D2B, cardiogenic shock and 30-day readmission. For direct presentations, fewer patients in the DOR group achieved D2B time <90 min compared with the BOR group (71.4% vs. 80.9%, P=0.042). This was more apparent after exclusion of non-system delay cases (DOR 81.6% vs. BOR 95.9%, P=0.006). Prevalence of both out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (9.5% vs. 1.9%, P=0.003) and acute mitral regurgitation (31.6% vs. 17.5%, P=0.006) was higher in the DOR group. Mortality was similar between groups. Multivariable regression showed that longer D2B time was an independent predictor of death (odds ratio 1.005, 95% confidence interval 1.000-1.011, P=0.029)., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak response have had an adverse effect on PPCI service efficiency. The study reinforces the need to focus efforts on shortening D2B time, while maintaining infection control measures.

Objective: ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with significant mortality leading to loss of productive life years, especially in younger patients. This study aims to compare the characteristics and outcomes of young versus older patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) to help focus public health efforts in STEMI prevention., Methods: Data from the Coronary Care Unit database of the National University Hospital, Singapore from July 2015 to June 2019 were reviewed. Patients were divided into young (<50 years old) or older (≥50 years old) groups., Results: Of the 1818 consecutive patients with STEMI who underwent PPCI, 465 (25.6%) were <50 years old. Young compared with older patients were more likely to be male, current smokers, of Indian ethnicity, have family history of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and had lower 1 year mortality (3.4% vs 10.4%, p<0.0001). Although diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidaemia was less common among young patients, the prevalence of having any one of these risk factors was high in the range of 28% to 38%. Age was an independent predictor of mortality in the older but not younger patients with STEMI, and diabetes showed a trend towards mortality in both groups., Conclusion: Young patients with STEMI are more often smokers, of Indian ethnicity and had family history of IHD, although cardiometabolic risk factors are also prevalent. Mortality is lower, but not negligible, among the young patients with STEMI. Public health efforts are needed to reduce the prevalence of these risk factors among the constitutionally susceptible population., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background/purpose: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) represents a thrombotic milieu and is associated with delayed healing after stenting. The pro-healing combination sirolimus eluting endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) capture stents encourage early endothelialization after stenting and may be beneficial in the STEMI population. We aim to evaluate the clinical outcomes one year and beyond for patients with STEMI who received the combination sirolimus eluting EPC capture stents during primary PCI., Methods/material: All STEMI patients implanted with combination sirolimus eluting EPC capture stents during primary PCI from November 2013 to December 2016 were enrolled. The primary outcome was target lesion failure (TLF) at in-hospital, one-month, one-year and beyond one year., Results: A total of 260 consecutive STEMI patients (283 lesions) were implanted with 313 combination sirolimus eluting EPC capture stents during primary PCI. Mean age was 56.1 ± 11.2 years and 88.8% were male. One in ten patients (10.9%) had cardiogenic shock on presentation, 7.3% needed mechanical ventilation and 7.7% had intra-aortic balloon pump inserted. A total of 97.9% of lesions achieve final TIMI 3 flow. Device success was seen in all patients. At extended follow up period (median 23.4 months), the clinical outcomes were TLF 8.8%, major adverse cardiovascular events 10.8%, cardiac mortality 4.2%, target vessel myocardial infarction 3.4%, target lesion revascularization 3.8%, and definite stent thrombosis 1.9%., Conclusions: This study demonstrated acceptable clinical outcomes for an all-comers STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI with the use of combination sirolimus eluting EPC cell capture stents., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

For patients presenting with an acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, the most effective therapy for reducing myocardial infarct size and preserving left ventricular systolic function is primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). However, mortality and morbidity remain significant. This is partly attributed to the development of microvascular obstruction, which occurs in around 50% of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction patients post-PPCI, and it is associated with adverse left ventricular remodeling and worse clinical outcomes. Although microvascular obstruction can be detected by cardiac imaging techniques several hours post-PPCI, it may be too late to intervene at that time. Therefore, being able to predict the development of microvascular obstruction at the time of PPCI may identify high-risk patients who might benefit from further adjuvant intracoronary therapies, such as thrombolysis, vasodilators, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, and anti-inflammatory agents that may reduce microvascular obstruction. Recent studies have shown that invasive coronary physiology measurements performed during PPCI can be used to assess the coronary microcirculation. In this article, we provide an overview of the various invasive methods currently available to assess the coronary microcirculation in the setting of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, and how they could potentially be used in the future for tailoring therapies to those most at risk., (© 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Introduction: Conventional knowledge holds that the majority of ruptured atherosclerotic plaques causing ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are found in moderate stenoses that produce < 50% loss of arterial diameter. This study aimed to analyse the culprit lesions in patients who presented with STEMI and underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) at our institution., Methods: Patients who underwent PPCI between June 2008 and August 2010 at our institution were included in the analysis. Quantitative coronary angiography was performed for the culprit lesions immediately after antegrade flow was restored by thrombectomy, low-profile balloon predilatation or guidewire crossing., Results: A total of 1,021 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 57 ± 12 years and 85.2% were male. Lesion measurement was done after coronary flow was restored by thrombectomy (73.1%), balloon dilatation (24.1%) and following guidewire passage across the lesion (2.8%). Mean minimal luminal diameter was 1.1 ± 0.5 mm, mean reference vessel diameter was 2.8 ± 0.6 mm, mean diameter stenosis was 61 ± 16% and mean lesion length was 16 ± 6 mm. Most (80.2%) of the culprit lesions had diameter stenoses > 50% (p < 0.01). Although balloon angioplasty was performed in 24.1% of the patients, the majority (64.2%) still had diameter stenoses > 50%. High-grade stenoses (> 50%) were more frequently observed in male patients (p = 0.04)., Conclusion: Contrary to the existing paradigm, we found that most of the patients with STEMI in our institution had culprit lesions with diameter stenosis > 50%.