Coronary Angiographic Features of de Winter Syndrome: More Than Just Occlusion of the Left Anterior Descending Artery

Background

The de Winter electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern is a rare presentation of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) equivalent. The clinical profile of de Winter syndrome remains to be clarified.

Methods

Medical records of 1865 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted from November 2018 to July 2023 were screened. Twelve patients (0.6%) with de Winter syndrome were included. STEMI patients whose culprit vessel was the left anterior descending artery (LAD) but without de Winter ECG pattern were selected as controls after 1:2 matching for age and sex.

Results

The de Winter syndrome patients were all male, aged 49.0 (46.3–52.5) years. The culprit lesion was the proximal LAD in seven patients (58.3%), the middle LAD in three (25%), the left main coronary artery in one (8.3%), and the ramus intermedius artery in the other. All of their culprit lesions had TIMI Thrombus Grade < 4, Cohen-Rentrop Score ≤ 2, and residual stenosis ≥ 80% after pretreatment with thrombus aspiration or balloon predilatation. Intracoronary imaging data were available in four patients, showing severe atherosclerotic stenosis. Compared with STEMI, de Winter syndrome had a higher prevalence of prior recurrent angina (75.0% vs. 37.5%, p = 0.034), better coronary collateralization (Cohen-Rentrop Score: 1 vs. 0, p = 0.001), lower thrombus burden (TIMI grade: 1 vs. 2, p = 0.005) but more severe atherosclerotic stenosis in the culprit lesions (90% vs. 60%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The culprit lesions of de Winter syndrome have a low thrombus burden, severe atherosclerotic stenosis, and poor collateral circulation protection.