| Abstract: | The introduction of intracoronary thrombolysis as a treatment for myocardial infarction has led to an increase in the number of very early coronary angiographies carried out in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. These investigations can be performed without excessive risk. In some cases, severe stenosis with significant distal circulatory impairment without evidence of thrombosis is found. In these very early investigations, these findings may represent a "pre-thrombolic" lesion in an evolving myocardial infarction. Six cases of very severe pre-thrombolitic stenosis of the LAD were observed in a series of 67 coronary angiographies performed in the early stages of myocardial infarction. These six cases were selected on strict clinical, ECG and angiographic criteria. One patient was hospitalised with cardiogenic shock. The six patients underwent emergency coronary bypass surgery: average time from admission to coronary angiography was 55 minutes; average time from coronary angiography to surgery was 3 hours. These 6 pre-thrombolic lesions of the LAD were also associated with lesions of the left circumflex and right coronary arteries. There were no operative complications but two patients had stormy immediate postoperative periods. There was no hospital mortality. All patients were reinvestigated at 1 month and all grafts were shown to be patent. The left ventricular ejection fractions improved in 3 cases, remained unchanged in 2 cases, and deteriorated in 1 case (the patient with cardiogenic shock). These results suggest that emergency coronary bypass surgery is a rational treatment of pre-thrombolic coronary stenosis observed at early coronary angiography in patients with evolving myocardial infarction in order to preserve as much myocardial muscle as possible. |
