The Effect of the Timing of Invasive Management on Cardiac Function in Patients with NSTE-ACS, Insights from the OPTIMA-2 Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 10; no. 16; p. 3636
• Main Authors: Fagel, Nick D., Leuven, Stefan G. J., Kikkert, Wouter J., de Leau, Michelle M., van Heerebeek, Loek, Riezebos, Robert K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 17-08-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Acute coronary syndromes; Anticoagulants; Cardiac function; Cardiology; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical medicine; Clinical trials; Coronary vessels; Diabetes; Ejection fraction; Family medical history; Heart attacks; Hypertension; Medical imaging; Patients; Statistical analysis; Ultrasonic imaging; Netherlands
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm10163636

The timing of coronary angiography in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) remains a matter of debate. The relationship between the timing of invasive management and left ventricular function (LVF) is largely unknown. The An Immediate or Early Invasive Strategy in Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome trial (OPTIMA-2) was a randomized controlled prospective open-label multicenter trial that randomized 249 NSTE-ACS patients to either an immediate (<3 h) invasive treatment strategy or an early strategy (12–24 h). Patients were pre-treated with a combination of aspirin, ticagrelor and fondaparinux. The aim of this prespecified sub-analysis was to assess (the recovery of) left ventricular function by analysing echocardiography data obtained <72 h after admission and at 30-day follow-up, for patients with a confirmed diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. LVF was determined using ejection fraction (EF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS). Inter-observer variability was tested. No difference in the recovery of EF was found between an immediate and early strategy if the follow-up echocardiograms were compared to baseline: 2.5% (standard deviation (SD): 7.9) and 3.3% (SD: 8.5), p = 0.51, nor was there any difference in GLS recovery between the study groups: −0.8% (SD: 2.5) vs. −0.7% (SD 2.8) p = 0.82. If baseline and follow-up echocardiograms were compared, there was a similar but significant improvement in both EF and GLS in both separate study groups. An immediate invasive strategy in NSTE-ACS patients did not result in an improved left ventricular EF or GLS recovery compared with an early strategy.