VIDEO: Early intervention might provide clinical benefit in patients with high-risk non-STEMI

NEW ORLEANS — Emmanouil S. Brilakis, MD, PhD, director of the center for advanced coronary interventions at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, and a Cardiology Today Intervention editorial board member, spoke with Cardiology Today about the results of a study that demonstrated that the earlier a patient underwent coronary angiography after presenting to the hospital with high-risk non-STEMI, the more likely the patient was to have better outcomes with less adverse events.

Brilakis noted that the mechanistic explanation of this benefit is still unclear and that there was some selection bias in the study. Patients who received cardiac catheterization early might have been sicker or had more ongoing test discomfort when presenting to the hospital, he said.

“But … if that was the case, then you would expect worse outcomes, [but] the outcomes were better,” Brilakis said. “This was a very thought provoking paper … it’s not a definitive study, but it does suggest that potentially doing early intervention in angiography in patients presenting with non-STEMI might provide a clinical benefit.”

Reference: Deharo P, et al. IN.AOS.855 - Hot Trials in Interventional Cardiology. Presented at: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions; Nov. 12-16, 2016; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Brilakis reports no relevant financial disclosures.