Comparative Significance of Invasive Measures of Microvascular Injury in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: The resistive reserve ratio (RRR) expresses the ratio between basal and hyperemic microvascular resistance. RRR measures the vasodilatory capacity of the microcirculation. We compared RRR, index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR), and coronary flow reserve (CFR) for predicting microvascular obstruction (MVO), myocardial hemorrhage, infarct size, and clinical outcomes, after ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Methods: In the T-TIME trial (Trial of Low-Dose Adjunctive Alteplase During Primary PCI), 440 patients with acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction from 11 UK hospitals were prospectively enrolled. In a subset of 144 patients, IMR, CFR, and RRR were measured post-primary percutaneous coronary intervention. MVO extent (% left ventricular mass) was determined by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging at 2 to 7 days. Infarct size was determined at 3 months. One-year major adverse cardiac events, heart failure hospitalizations, and all-cause death/heart failure hospitalizations were assessed. Results: In these 144 patients (mean age, 59 +/- 11 years, 80% male), median IMR was 29.5 (interquartile range: 17.0-55.0), CFR was 1.4 (1.1-2.0), and RRR was 1.7 (1.3-2.3). MVO occurred in 41% of patients. IMR>40 was multivariably associated with more MVO (coefficient, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.05-1.02]; P=0.031), myocardial hemorrhage presence (odds ratio [OR], 3.20 [95% CI, 1.25-8.24]; P=0.016), and infarct size (coefficient, 5.05 [95% CI, 0.84-9.26]; P=0.019), independently of CFR