Outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction from a saphenous vein graft culprit undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: We sought to describe characteristics of patients presenting with an acute MI from a SVG culprit, compared with a native culprit.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of saphenous vein grafts (SVG) results in worse outcomes than native vessel PCI, but outcomes of such patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) setting are not well-described.

Methods: Patients presenting with ST-elevation or non-ST-elevation MI undergoing PCI from 2000 to 2010 were retrospectively analyzed to identify the culprit as a SVG vs. native vessel. Multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors of peak troponin-I level. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify predictors of 30-day mortality and 1-year major adverse cardiac events (MACE).

Results: 192 patients underwent PCI for a SVG culprit, compared with 4,001 with a native culprit. After multivariable adjustment, SVG culprit remained significantly associated with lower levels of the logarithm of the peak troponin (β = -0.17, SE = 0.07, P = 0.02). The likelihood of MACE was higher in SVG vs. native culprits in patients with small to modest troponin elevations. Patients with a SVG culprit also suffered higher unadjusted rates of mortality at 30 days (14.3% vs. 8.4%, P = 0.03) and MACE at 1 year (36.8% vs. 24.5%, P = 0.005); a modest effect upon mortality and MACE remained after multivariable adjustment.

Conclusion: Even minimal elevations of troponin in patients with a SVG culprit may portend a poorer prognosis than in patients with a native culprit. The risk of PCI in this setting is driven by mortality and arises from both substantial comorbidities and the SVG itself.