Efficacy and Safety of Alprostadil in Microcirculatory Disturbances During Emergency PCI: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective

The clinical advantage of alprostadil [prostaglandin E1 (PGE1)] in the treatment of microcirculatory disturbances (defined as no-reflow or slow-flow) in acute percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is still disputed. The purpose of our study was to review the efficacy of PGE1 supplements in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who had urgent PCI.

Design

This study was a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Data Sources

PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Ovid, ProQuest, Scopus, the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Internet, the China Science and Technology Journal Database, and the Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform were used as sources.

Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies

We included randomized controlled trials including PGE1 for the treatment of intraoperative microcirculatory disorders and major cardiovascular adverse events in emergency PCI in people with AMI. Independent data extraction was conducted, and study quality was assessed. The meta-analysis was carried out by using random effects models to calculate the risk ratio (RR) of microcirculatory disorders between groups receiving PGE1 and those receiving placebo, nitroglycerin, or tirofiban.

Main Outcome Measures

The primary endpoint of the study was the incidence of microcirculatory disturbances. Secondary outcomes included corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count (cTFC), the percentage of patients with TIMI myocardial perfusion grade 3 (TMPG3), and the percentage of patients with myocardial blush grade 3 (MBG3) as efficacy indicators. Additionally, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 30 days and 180 days were assessed as safety indicators.

Results

There were 18 trials involving a total of 1458 participants. PGE1 significantly reduced the occurrence of microcirculation disorders compared with conventional medications and placebo [risk ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36–0.63, I² = 46%; cTFC (RR −4.74, 95% −6.85 to −2.63, I² 93%); percentage of patients with TMPG3 (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.07–1.68, I² 70%) or MBG3 (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.19–1.49, I² 0%); major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in 30 days (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.27–0.86, I² 0%); and MACEs in 180 days (RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.28–0.60, I² 0%)].

Conclusions

We found that PGE1 decreased the occurrence of micro-circulation disturbance in AMI and enhanced the outcome of PCI. Additional studies should be conducted to confirm these findings.