The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of concurrent chronic total occlusion (CTO) in a noninfarct-related artery (IRA) on the long-term prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary disease. Of 1,658 consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, 666 with multivessel coronary disease who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention from 1999 to 2004 were included in the present analysis. The patients were divided into 2 groups: no CTO and CTO. The first group included 462 patients without CTO (69%) and the second group included 204 patients with CTO in a non-IRA (31%). The in-hospital mortality rate was 6.3% and 21.1% (p < 0.0001) and the 5-year mortality rate was 22.5% and 40.2% (p < 0.0001) for the no-CTO and CTO patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that after correction for baseline differences CTO in a non-IRA was a strong, independent predictor of 5-year mortality in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (hazard ratio 1.85; 95% confidence interval 1.35 to 2.53; p = 0.0001). In conclusion, the presence of CTO in a non-IRA in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary disease is a strong and independent risk factor for greater 5-year mortality.
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