Impact on long-term mortality of access and non-access site bleeding after primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: The influence of the bleeding site on long-term survival after the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is poorly understood. This study sought to investigate the relationship between in-hospital access site versus non-access site bleeding and very late mortality in unselected patients treated with primary PCI.

Methods: Data of the 2715 consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary PCI, enrolled in a prospective registry of a high volume tertiary centre, were analysed.