Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): BACKGROUND: Patients diagnosed with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) frequently present with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) at the time of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The optimal timing of complete revascularization (CR) in these cases remains a subject of ongoing debate.
OBJECTIVE: To assess major cardiovascular outcomes and procedural complications in STEMI patients with multivessel CAD undergoing immediate versus staged CR post index procedure.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing immediate to staged CR in STEMI and multivessel CAD. Trials were identified via a systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Libraries from database inception to March 6, 2024. The data were analyzed using RevMan software.
RESULTS: Among five RCTs (n=1,415) the majority of participants were male, the weighted mean follow-up duration across studies was 15.6 months. Immediate versus staged CR showed no significant differences in MACE (13.3% vs 9.8%; RR: 1.07, 95% CI [0.62, 1.83]), all-cause mortality (3% vs 4.55%; RR: 0.70, 95% CI [0.41, 1.21]), or MI (4.5% vs 2.6%; RR: 1.43, 95% CI [0.58, 3.55]). However, the staged group had higher unplanned revascularization incidence (8.6% vs 4.4%; RR: 1.92, 95% CI [1.21, 3.04]).
CONCLUSION: Staged revascularization in STEMI patients with multivessel CAD demonstrates comparable effectiveness to immediate revascularization but leads to a greater number of unplanned revascularization procedures, likely due to delayed intervention. The early implementation of staged PCI during the initial hospitalization phase may provide equivalent efficacy to immediate complete revascularization. Nonetheless, further research is necessary to corroborate these findings.