Efficacy and safety of intracoronary pro-urokinase injection during percutaneous coronary intervention in treating ST elevation myocardial infarction patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE

Intracoronary injection of pro-urokinase (Pro-UK) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) seems to be a promising treatment in improving myocardial perfusion. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed at investigating the efficacy and safety of intracoronary Pro-UK injection during PCI in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A comprehensive literature searched on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Ovid-MEDLINE, Ovid-Embase, Ovid-Cochrane Databases and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception until June 1, 2022, in English only. The primary outcome was myocardial perfusion, including thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) grades, corrected TIMI frame count (CTFC), TIMI myocardial perfusion grades (TMPG). The secondary outcomes were ST-segment resolution (STR), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), myocardial marker, cardiac function and hemorrhagic complications.

RESULTS

We identified 5 studies (all RCTs) involving 761 participants. Under PCI procedure, compared with placebo, intracoronary Pro-UK injection may improve myocardial perfusion, including increasing the TIMI grades [odd ratio (OR) 0.46; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28-0.75; p = 0.002; I2 = 0%] , CTFC (OR -3.47; 95% CI [-5.60, -1.33]; p = 0.001; I2 = 0%) and TMPG (OR 0.17; 95% CI [0.06-0.44]; p = 0.0003; I2 = 0%), increase the rate of STR (OR 2.25; 95% CI [1.56-3.26]; p < 0.0001; I2 = 0%), reduce the incidence of MACE (OR 0.51; 95% CI [0.33-0.81]; p = 0.004; I2 = 0%) and reduce myocardial infarct size (CK, standardized mean difference [SMD] -0.45; 95% [CI] [-0.62, -0.28]; p < 0.00001; I2 = 10%. CK-MB, [SMD] -0.43; 95% CI [-0.68, -0.18]; p = 0.0007; I2 = 60%. cTnI, [SMD] -0.31; 95% CI [-0.46, -0.17]; p < 0.0001; I2 = 0%). Moreover, the treatment may improve the cardiac functions (LVFE, pooled mean difference [MD] 1.23; 95% CI [0.66-1.79]; p < 0.0001; I2 = 24%. LVEDd, pooled MD -0.13; 95% CI [-0.17, -0.09]; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0%). But there is no statistically significant difference between the Pro-UK group and placebo in the occurrence of hemorrhagic complications (OR 1.19; 95% CI [0.75-1.87]; p = 0.46; I2 = 0%).

CONCLUSIONS

Intracoronary Pro-UK injection during PCI in STEMI patients is an effective and safe treatment to perform. The treatment may improve myocardial perfusion and rate of STR, as well as decreasing the incidence of MACE and myocardial infarct size. Importantly, the treatment may improve the cardiac functions and life quality. In the future, more multi-centered and massive sample studies are required.