Retrograde percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusions in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Background: Data on the safety and prognostic implications of retrograde percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and chronic total occlusion (CTO) are unclear. This study aimed to assess the procedural results and long-term outcomes of retrograde CTO PCI in individuals with reduced LVEF (≤ 40%).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 836 consecutive patients who underwent elective retrograde CTO PCI at a single center between January 2011 and April 2023. Patients and lesion characteristics, procedural details and results, and long-term outcomes were compared between patients with reduced (LVEF ≤ 40%) and preserved left ventricular systolic function (LVEF > 40%) based on echocardiographic assessment.

Results: Baseline LVEF ≤ 40% was presented in 156 (18.7%) patients. The collateral channel (CC) tracking success was high (overall 93.5%) and similar among the groups (94.2% vs. 93.4%, p = 0.835), as well as retrograde technical success (87.8% vs. 89.9%, p = 0.548) and recanalization success (87.8% vs. 91.5%, p = 0.281). Procedure complications were low and similar between the groups (all p > 0.05). Clinical follow-up was available in 767 (91.2%) patients with a medium follow-up of 1041 (531-1511) days. In patients with lower LVEF, the incidence of MACE was higher (23.2% vs. 14.9%, p = 0.021), mainly the all-cause mortality (15.4% vs. 4.1%, p < 0.001) and cardiac death (12.2% vs. 2.5%, p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis revealed that age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.04, p = 0.008), LVEF ≤ 40% (HR: 1.21, 95%CI: 1.01-1.45, p = 0.039), and revascularization success (HR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.22-0.66, p < 0.001) were independently associated with MACE.

Conclusions: Retrograde PCI may represent a safe and efficient management strategy for patients with reduced LVEF and CTO. Furthermore, our study demonstrated that successful CTO recanalization was associated with a significant survival benefit, regardless of left ventricular systolic function.