The presence of late potentials after percutaneous coronary intervention for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome as a predictor for future significant cardiac events resulting in re-hospitalization.

INTRODUCTION: We previously reported that LP positive patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had higher rate of re-hospitalization in the small-scale study (135 patients). In this study, we evaluated correlation between LP and later cardiac events leading to re-hospitalization more extensively in greater population.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A 24-h high-resolution (HR) ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) was performed in 421 patients that received PCI for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) within 30 days. Various baseline characteristics and post-PCI ECG parameters including LP were examined for correlation with later re-hospitalization. LP was evaluated based on 3 different conditions, i.e., the worst, mean and best values, from 24-h signal-averaged QRS wave data. During the post-PCI follow-up period (611 ± 489.0 days), 90 patients were re-hospitalized due to cardiac events. Multivariate analysis identified only positive LP based on the worst value as an independent predictor for re-hospitalization with OR 2.26. Most of re-hospitalization cases (>75%) were predominantly attributed to ischemic events. LP positive population had significantly higher incidences of ischemic events as well as overall re-hospitalization compared to LP negative population. The predictive power of LP was decreased when it was combined with other variables. The receiver operating characteristic analysis determined the LP cut-off values consistent with the LP positive criteria previously reported and standardized.

CONCLUSION: The presence of LP in the 24-h HR ambulatory ECG post-PCI was an independent predictor for a risk of re-hospitalization due to ischemic cardiac events in ACS patients.