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Background-The prognostic importance of renal insufficiency (RI) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not been well characterized. Methods and Results-PCI was performed in 2082 AMI patients without shock presenting within 12 hours of symptom onset in a prospective, multicenter randomized trial. RI was defined as a calculated (Cockroft-Gault) creatinine clearance (CrCl) Յ60 mL/min. RI at baseline was present in 18% of patients. Compared with patients without RI, patients with RI were older and were more likely to be female; to have hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, or cerebrovascular disease; and to present in heart failure. Mortality was markedly increased in patients with versus without baseline RI both at 30 days (7.5% versus 0.8%, PϽ0.0001) and at 1 year (12.7% versus 2.4%, PϽ0.0001). Mortality rates increased incrementally for every 10-mL/min decrease in baseline CrCl. By multivariate analysis, reduced baseline CrCl was a powerful independent predictor of 30-day mortality (hazard ratio, 5.77; PϽ0.0001) and remained associated with reduced survival at 1 year (hazard ratio, 1.98; Pϭ0.08). Hemorrhagic complications and transfusion requirements were also increased more than 2-fold in patients with RI, as were severe restenosis (diameter stenosis Ն70%; 20.6% versus 11.8%, Pϭ0.024) and infarct artery reocclusion (14.7% versus 7.3%, Pϭ0.02). Conclusions-Baseline RI in patients with AMI undergoing primary PCI is associated with a markedly increased risk of mortality, as well as bleeding and restenosis. Novel approaches are needed to improve the otherwise poor prognosis of patients with RI and AMI.

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Regional diastolic wall motion is impaired at baseline in ischaemic myocardial segments, even when systolic contraction is preserved. Pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging is a useful non-invasive technique which allows the assessment of regional diastolic performance and dynamics of the left ventricular myocardium. Further studies are required to define this role in the evaluation of coronary heart disease.

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