Clinical impact of complete atrioventricular block in patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction

Complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) is a common complication of ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Although STEMI patients complicated with CAVB had a higher mortality in the thrombolytic era, little is known about the impact of CAVB on STEMI patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study aimed at evaluating the clinical impact of CAVB on STEMI patients in the primary PCI era. We consecutively enrolled 1295 STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI within 24 hours from onset. Patients were divided into two groups according to the infarct location: anterior STEMI (n = 640) and nonanterior STEMI (n = 655). The outcomes were all‐cause death and major adverse cardiocerebrovascular events (MACCE) with a median follow‐up period of 3.8 (1.7–6.6) years. Eighty‐one patients (6.3%) developed CAVB. The incidence of CAVB was lower in anterior STEMI patients than in nonanterior STEMI (1.7% vs 10.7%, p < .05). Anterior STEMI patients with CAVB had a higher incidence of all‐cause deaths (82% vs 20%, p < .05) and MACCE (82% vs 25%, p < .05) than those without CAVB. Although higher incidence of all‐cause deaths was found more in nonanterior STEMI patients with CAVB compared with those without CAVB (30% vs 18%, p < .05), there was no significant difference in the incidence of MACCE (24% vs 19%). Multivariate analysis showed that CAVB was an independent predictor for all‐cause mortality and MACCE in anterior STEMI patients, but not in nonanterior STEMI. CAVB is rare in anterior STEMI patients, but remains a poor prognostic complication even in the primary PCI era.