Routine thrombus aspiration before primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients did not significantly reduce short-term mortality, according to one-year outcomes from the TASTE Trial presented Sept. 1 at ESC Congress 2014 and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Additional Resources ESC Congress 2014 Meeting Coverage TASTE Trial Summary

The TASTE study randomly assigned 7,244 patients with STEMI to undergo manual thrombus aspiration followed by PCI, or PCI alone. At one year follow-up, results showed death from any cause occurred in 5.3 percent of patients in the thrombus-aspiration group as compared to 5.6 percent in the PCI-only group. The composite of death from any cause, rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis occurred in 8.0 percent and 8.5 percent of patients, respectively. According to study investigators, the results were consistent across all major subgroups, including grade of thrombus burden and coronary flow before PCI.

"Because thrombus aspiration is an intervention performed only in the acute phase of myocardial infarction and there is no ongoing therapy, a late affect is not likely in the absence of an early benefit," the investigators note. "The one-year follow-up findings in the TASTE Trial do not suggest that thrombus aspiration might result in a long-term reduction in mortality."

Keywords: Myocardial Infarction, Follow-Up Studies, Coronary Thrombosis, Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary, Stents

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