ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Thrombus Aspiration, and Different Invasive Strategies. A TASTE Trial Substudy

BACKGROUND: The clinical effect of thrombus aspiration in ST-elevation myocardial infarction may depend on the type of aspiration catheter and stenting technique. METHODS AND RESULTS: The multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label trial Thrombus Aspiration in ST-Elevation myocardial infarction in Scandinavia (TASTE) did not demonstrate a clinical benefit of thrombus aspiration compared to percutaneous coronary intervention alone. We assessed the effect of type of aspiration device, stent type, direct stenting, and postdilatation on outcomes at 1 year. There was no difference in all-cause mortality, between the 3 most frequently used aspiration catheters (Eliminate [Terumo] 5.4%, Export [Medtronic] 5.0%, Pronto [Vascular Solutions] 4.5%) in patients randomized to thrombus aspiration. There was no difference in mortality between directly stented patients randomized to thrombus aspiration compared to patients randomized to percutaneous coronary intervention only (risk ratio 1.08, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.67, P=0.73). Similarly, there was no difference in mortality between the 2 randomized groups for patients receiving drug-eluting stents (risk ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.26, P=0.50) or for those treated with postdilation (risk ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.07, P=0.11). Furthermore, there was no difference in rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis between the randomized arms in any of the subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction randomized to thrombus aspiration, the type of aspiration catheter did not affect outcome. Stent type, direct stenting, or postdilation did not affect outcome irrespective of treatment with thrombus aspiration and percutaneous coronary intervention or percutaneous coronary intervention alone. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01093404, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01093404.