Correlation of Electrocardiogram Changes with Epicardial and Myocardial Perfusion in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: The present study was aimed to find the correlation of electrocardiographic changes with epicardial thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade and TIMI myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG) after reperfusion in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: One hundred and fifty patients with STEMI were included. Reperfusion was done either by thrombolysis or primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The summed absolute ST-segment deviation and summed relative ST-segment deviation were calculated. TIMI and TMPG were assessed. The primary outcome measures were to study the correlation of summed absolute ST deviation and summed relative ST deviation with TIMI flow grade and TMPG after reperfusion. The secondary outcome measures were to compare TIMI flow grade and TMPG with respect to time since symptom onset to treatment and T-wave inversion after reperfusion. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between relative ST-segment deviation that occurred after reperfusion with TIMI flow grade ( r = 0.475) and TMPG ( r = 0.376). There was a significant negative correlation between absolute ST-segment deviation that occurred after reperfusion with TIMI flow grade ( r = −0.194) and TMPG ( r = −0.288). A significantly higher percentage (87.4%) of patients who got treatment within 1 h showed TMPG 2 and 3. A significantly higher percentage of patients who had T-wave inversion after reperfusion had TIMI flow Grade 3 and TMPG 2 and 3. Conclusions: There was a significant positive correlation between relative ST-segment deviation and significant negative correlation between absolute ST-segment deviation after reperfusion with TIMI flow grade and TMPG.