Background: The clinical and angiographic findings of patients suffered from acute myocardial infarction (MI) and presented with combined ST elevation in both anterior and inferior leads remain unclear.
Hypothesis: These patients might have >/= 1 coronary arteries occluded.
Methods: From January 2002 to December 2006, 49 consecutive patients were found to have ST elevation in both anterior and inferior leads during myocardial infarction. Patients who had left circumflex artery occlusion (acute or chronic) were excluded. These patients were divided into 4 types according to the infarct-related artery (IRA) and status of the contralateral vessel patency: left anterior descending artery (LAD) as the IRA with a patent right coronary artery (RCA) (type 1A, n = 25); LAD as IRA with an occluded RCA (type 1B, n = 1); RCA as IRA with a patent LAD (type 2A, n = 19); and RCA as IRA with an occluded LAD (type 2B, n = 4).
Results: Single vessel occlusion (type A angiographic pattern) was found in 90% of patients. Type 1A patients had a larger infarct size than that of 2A. ST elevation in V(2) >/= V(3) identified RCA as the IRA with a high specificity (92%) and sensitivity (74%). Type 2B patients (2-vessel occlusion) had a larger infarct size than that of 2A; however, no electrocardiogram (ECG) criteria could reliably differentiate them.
Conclusion: In a real world situation, single vessel occlusion is found in the majority of cases of combined ST elevation in anterior and inferior leads. ST elevation in V(2) >/= V(3) distinguishes RCA against LAD as the IRA with high accuracy.
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