Background
Left ventricular thrombus formation is a recognized complication of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Little information exists about the incidence of LV thrombus formation in the modern era of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to determine the incidence and predictors of left ventricular thrombus in a high-risk population of patients with anterior STEMI treated with modern PCI.
Methods
We used the Dartmouth STEMI Registry to retrospectively identify 295 consecutive with anterior STEMI and ejection fractions of 40% or less. Presence of LV thrombus was determined by echocardiographic criteria. Correlation between thrombus formation, LV function and biomarker elevation was calculated using a Pearson correlation coefficient.
Methods
We used the Dartmouth STEMI Registry to retrospectively identify 295 consecutive with anterior STEMI and ejection fractions of 40% or less. Presence of LV thrombus was determined by echocardiographic criteria. Correlation between thrombus formation, LV function and biomarker elevation was calculated using a Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results
A total of 27 patients (9.2%) developed left ventricular thrombus post-MI. There were no significant differences in baseline demographic or procedural characteristics between patients who developed thrombus and those that did not. Thrombus formation was associated with the degree of creatinine kinase elevation ( r =0.87), troponin elevation ( r =0.99) and severity of LV dysfunction ventricular function ( r =−0.99) as displayed in Table 1 .
