Effects of tirofiban and percutaneous coronary intervention in an old patient with acute myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock

A 75 year old man presented in our institutiton with acute inferoposterior and right ventricular ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock, 40 minutes after the pain onset. He was pretreated with 300 mg of aspirin, 600 mg of clopidogrel, and was taken to the catheterization laboratory. Door to needle time was 35 minutes. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention with bare-metal stent implantation first in infarct related right coronary artery, with subsequent high-bolus dose (25 fig/kg) tirofiban, and then in suboccluded RCx were done. The procedures were done during the cardio-pulmo-cerebral reanimation because of relapsing ventricular fibrillation, with final TIMI 3 coronary flow established. Subsequently, intraaortic balloon pump was inserted. Echocardiography taken on the second day showed globaly hypokinetic left ventricle, with 10% ejection fraction and competent valves. During the next three weeks of hospital follow-up, there were no major adverse cardiac events, a transient azotemia and fall in hemoglobin concentration without major bleeding, and no episodes of severe thrombocytopenia were recorded. After six months, the patient was without chest pains, 2/3 class according to the New York Heart Association, without major adverse events, and echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction increment for 30%.