Safety and efficacy of post-procedure anticoagulation in ST-elevation myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Introduction: Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a lethal complication of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The impact of post-procedure anticoagulants (PPAC) in STEMI-CS patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) remains unknown.

Method: In the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Acute Coronary Syndrome registry (2014-2019), STEMI patients with CS on admission undergoing PPCI were stratified into two groups based on the use of PPAC or not. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality during hospitalization. Other outcomes including major bleeding were also investigated.

Results: Of 36,873 patients with STEMI, 855 eligible patients with CS undergoing PPCI were included in our study, among which 614 patients were treated by PPAC and 241 were not. Adjusted by multi-variable Cox regression, PPAC was associated with a lower risk of in-hospital all-cause mortality (14.9% vs. 30.3%; adjusted HR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.97; p = 0.037), while a non-significant difference in major bleeding (4.6% vs. 7.0%; adjusted HR: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.36 to 3.05; p = 0.925) was observed between PPAC and non-PPAC. Consistent results were observed in the sensitivity analyses adjusted by propensity score matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting.

Conclusion: Our study suggested the use of PPAC in STEMI-CS patients undergoing PPCI was associated with a lower risk of in-hospital all-cause mortality without increasing the risk of major bleeding.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02306616. Registered 29 November 2014.