Trhombus Aspiration in Hyperglycemic ST-elevation myocardiAl InfarcTIon (STEMI) Patients: 1-year Follow-up of the Prospective Randomised TAHITI Study

The data analyzed in this study will be obtained from hyperglycemic STEMI patients who underwent primary PCI at the Department of Cardiology of the Cardarelli Hospital in Naples Italy between June 1, 2016, and December 1, 2017. This will be a prospective study to compare two therapeutic strategies: PCI plus thrombus aspiration (TA) versus PCI alone in patients with STEMI and hyperglycemia. According to the recent statement by the American Heart Association, hyperglycemia will be defined as an admission plasma glucose level of >140 mg/dl. Inclusion criteria will include: age of 18 years or greater, presentation to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for PCI in the setting of first STEMI, admission plasma glucose level of >140 mg/dl. All STEMI patients will be referred to the cardiac catheterization laboratory within 12 h of presentation. Patients with left ventricular ejection fraction less than 25%, with previous myocardial infarction or previous PCI or/and coronary by-pass grafting, or had received fibrinolytic therapy will be excluded from the study. The following patients will be referred for urgent invasive diagnostics with the intention of performing PCI: symptom duration of 12 hours or less and ST-segment elevation of 0.1 mV or greater in at least 2 contiguous leads (≥0.2 mV in V1-V3) or presumed new-onset left bundle-branch block. The investigation will be conformed with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for use of human tissue or subjects. The Institutional Review Board will approve the protocol.

Outcomes The primary outcome of the THAITI study will be all-cause mortality, cardiovascular deaths, recurrent myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock, and class IV heart failure within 360 days. Other outcomes will include target vessel revascularisation, stent thrombosis, stroke, and transient ischaemic attack within 360 days.