As soon as upon a time, lengthy, way back, cardiologists was frightened about akinetic segments, scars, useless tissue, and Q waves earlier than trying revascularization by both PCI or CABG. Now, the idea of myocardial viability has turn out to be a cliché ( fairly demeaning) at the very least throughout the cath labs. At present ,we observe a self administered whip . Each post-MI affected person needs to be thought of for revascularization as a defaulttechnique no matter the extent of dysfunction or scarring .This will occur both within the IRA territory or non-IRA territory or each.
Lets return and be taught one thing from the 12 months 1999
For these cardiologists who nonetheless suppose myocardial viability is a crucial issue earlier than revascularization, let me pull out a 30 year-old examine from the College of Aberdeen, UK, that regarded into the standard ECG to detect viability. The authors went past simply observing presence or absence of Q waves .It conveys a terrific studying level.
Modified from Al-Mohammad A, et al Coronary heart. 1999 Dec;82(6):663-7. (Ref 1) Matching means non-viable myocardium (Tissue appears akinetic or scar-like, whereas PET concurs and reveals lack of metabolic exercise. That is known as matching, and the phase is non-viable) Mismatch means viable myocardium (Tissue seem useless by akinetic Echo however metabolism intact ie a mismatch implying viability )
It’s worthy to notice, the authors regarded particularly over the segments that subtended Q waves and regarded for viability matching. It was correlated with a PET scan, the gold normal for viability testing even now.
The outcomes had been vital and insightful. What we infer from this examine is definitely a easy message. In post-MI sufferers, even with the burden of q-waves, if the return wave overshoots the baseline and inscribes some form of r-wave (Qr, QR, qR patterns), there’s a excessive chance of viable tissue when in comparison with QS wave. It’s a new lesson from a previous paper for me. , ie any R is nice whether or not it’s preceded by q or not.
It’s good to recall ,different easy clues to the presence of viable myocardial tissue, corresponding to presence of angina, M-mode wall thickening. To not neglect different modalities like, nicely preserved sub endocardial operate by speckle monitoring echo, dobutamine-stress, myocardial distinction echo, and LGE-MRI.
Last message
As on 2024, the idea of myocardial viability testing has not vanished. We should guarantee, to not move on a incorrect message to technology subsequent cardiologists, that viability exams are outdated and out of date.