Nudi F et al. – In this study, the authors studied the trends in presence, severity and localization of necrosis at myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), following myocardial infarction. The authors concluded that, although there has been an apparent worsening of baseline features, the outlook of stable patients with prior MI has improved substantially in the past 10 years, with a decrease in the severity of residual myocardial ischemia and necrosis.

Methods

• Retrospective, single center analysis, including 10,476 patients.

Results

• A significant worsening in baseline features and an increased frequency of medical therapy and revascularization was evident from trend analysis.
• A lower prevalence of normal MPI (from 16.8% to 13.6%) and ischemic MPI (from 35.6% to 32.8%) was reported, along with a higher prevalence of ischemic and necrotic MPI (from 12.0% to 12.7%) or solely necrotic MPI (from 35.7% to 40.9%) in several trails in the past.
• However, the prevalence of severe and moderate ischemia decreased over time from 11.4% to 2.0% and from 15.9% to 11.8%, respectively.
• Similarly, prevalence of severe and moderate necrosis reduced from 19.8% to 8.2% and 8.5% to 7.8%, respectively.