Left ventricular systolic function after percutaneous coronary intervention: patterns of change and prognosis according to clinical presentation of coronary artery disease

Background: Whether there are differences in the left ventricular ejection fraction change (ΔLVEF) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and its association with long-term prognosis according to coronary artery disease (CAD) presentations is unknown. We assessed ΔLVEF after PCI and its association with 5-year mortality in various CAD presentations.

Methods: This study included 8181 patients with paired (before and 6-8 months after PCI) angiographic LVEF measurements: 4582 patients with chronic coronary disease (CCD), 1972 patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) and 1627 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). ΔLVEF (LVEF at 6-8 months minus baseline LVEF) was classified as follows: decline (ΔLVEF < 0), moderate improvement (ΔLVEF > 0 to < 10%) and large improvement (ΔLVEF ≥ 10%). The primary endpoint was 5 year mortality.

Results: In patients with CCD, NSTE-ACS and STEMI, ΔLVEF (median [25th-75th percentiles]) was 0.0% [- 3.0%; 4.0%], 1.0% [- 2.0%; 5.0%] and 3.0% [- 2.0%; 10.0%], respectively (P < 0.001). In patients with a decline, moderate improvement and large improvement of LVEF, 5-year mortality was 10.0%, 10.4% and 12.3% in patients with CCD, 10.8%, 10.7% and 18.1% in patients with NSTE-ACS and 10.6%, 8.2% and 5.2% in patients with STEMI. After adjustment, ΔLVEF was associated with 5-year mortality in patients with CCD (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.90, 95% confidence interval [0.83-0.97]) and STEMI (adjusted HR = 0.85 [0.75-0.95]) but not in patients with NSTE-ACS (adjusted HR = 0.97 [0.85-1.10]), with all 3 risk estimates calculated for 5% increment in the ΔLVEF.

Conclusions: The type of CAD presentation appears to impact both LVEF change after PCI and its association with 5-year mortality.