Based on the presence or absence of MVO and IMH, patients were classified into three groups: 41 patients with MVO(−)/IMH(−), 10 with MVO(+)/IMH(−) and 39 with MVO(+)/IMH(+) (Fig. 2). For most of the baseline characteristics, there were no significant differences between groups (Table 1), except for pre-PCI TIMI 3 flow, which was only observed in the MVO(−)/IMH(−) group. There was no difference in the use of glycoprotein IIbIIIa inhibitor between groups.
Fig. 2 Magnetic resonance image examples from each patient group. Top row (a, b): MVO(−)/IMH(−) patient; middle row (c, d): MVO(+)/IMH(−) patient; bottom row (e, f): MVO(+)/(IMH(+) patient. T2-weighted images are shown on the left (a, c, e) and corresponding late gadolinium-enhanced images on the right (b, d, f). Oedema and infarct border zones are indicated by arrowheads and IMH and MVO by asterisks
Table 1 Baseline characteristics
Group FDR p value
MVO(−)/IMH(−) (n = 41) MVO(+)/IMH(−) (n = 10) MVO(+)/IMH(+) (n = 39)
Age (years) 61 ± 9 59 ± 15 59 ± 12 0.64
Male (%) 27 (66) 6 (60) 32 (82) 0.29
DM (%) 4 (10) 1 (10) 1 (3) 0.49
Smoking (%) 33 (80) 9 (90) 36 (92) 0.38
Hypertension (%) 20 (49) 3 (30) 12 (31) 0.35
Hypercholesterolaemia (%) 11 (27) 3 (30) 11 (28) 0.95
Positive family history (%) 16 (39) 3 (30) 22 (56) 0.29
Anterior location (%) 10 (24) 2 (20) 16 (41) 0.30
Previous angina (%) 13 (32) 3 (30) 21 (54) 0.20
GIIbIIIa inhibitor (%) 17 (41) 5 (50) 23 (59) 0.38
TIMI 3
 Pre-PCI (%) 10 (24) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0.004
 Post-PCI (%) 36 (88) 9 (90) 35 (90) 0.66
Rentrop ≥2 (%) 9 (22) 5 (50) 7 (18) 0.20
Thrombosuction (%) 9 (22) 2 (20) 11 (28) 0.89
Time to PCI (min) 217 (165–304) 177 (148–248) 201 (160–291) 0.65
AAR (%) 19 ± 121.2 27 ± 81 33 ± 92 <0.001
IS (%) 8 ± 83.4 16 ± 73.5 23 ± 94.5 <0.001
Myocardial salvage (%) 54 ± 326 40 ± 25 28 ± 246 0.004
MVO (% of LV mass) 0 0.8 (0.4–1.9) 1.7 (1.0–3.3) 0.07
IMH (% of LV mass) 0 0 1.6 (1.0–2.4)
Values are presented as mean ± SD or median and IQR; AAR: area at risk; DM: diabetes mellitus; IS: infarct size at baseline; IHM: intramyocardial haemorrhage; MVO: microvascular obstruction; PCI: percutaneous coronary intervention. Superscripts indicate significant post-hoc, pairwise comparisons