Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty performed 24-48 hours after the onset of acute myocardial infarction improves chronic-phase left ventricular regional wall motion.

The authors investigated the capacity of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) performed 24-48 hours after the onset of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to improve regional left ventricular wall motion. Twenty-four patients were divided into two groups: a PTCA group who received successful PTCA (14 cases) and a non-PTCA group (10 cases) who did not receive PTCA. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) increased significantly (p<0.01) from 57+/-14 mL/m2 during the acute phase to 83+/-16 mL/m2 during the chronic phase in the non-PTCA group, whereas no significant change in LVEDV was seen in the PTCA group (69+/-26 vs. 76+/-16 mL/m2). In addition, in patients with 99% stenosis/thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) grade 3 flow, increases in regional left ventricular wall motion (delta(sd)/chord) at the infarcted site between the acute and chronic phases were significantly greater in the PTCA group than in the non-PTCA group (2.49+/-1.05 vs. 0.67+/-0.65, p<0.01). PTCA performed 24-48 hours after the onset of AMI improved wall motion at the infarcted site.