Clinical Outcomes of Immediate Versus Staged Revascularization of Nonculprit Arteries in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Recent guidelines for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with multivessel coronary artery disease (MVD) recommend revascularization of non-culprit lesions following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the optimal timing for this procedure—whether immediate or staged—remains uncertain.

Methods

A comprehensive search using PubMed (MEDLINE), Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify studies comparing clinical outcomes between immediate and staged revascularization approaches in patients with MVD undergoing PCI. A random effects model was used to calculate risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The primary outcome was 1-year all-cause mortality.

Results

A total of 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comprising 3886 patients (1964 in the immediate revascularization group and 1940 in the staged revascularization group), with a median follow-up of 12 months, were included in the analysis. No significant difference in the risk of 1-year mortality was noted between the two approaches. The risk of target vessel revascularization (TVR) at 1-year follow-up was significantly lower in the immediate revascularization group compared to the staged revascularization group (RR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.47–0.86; I²: 0%; p = 0.03). Additionally, the immediate revascularization group had a significantly lower risk of myocardial infarction (MI) at 1-year follow-up than the staged approach (RR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37–0.88; I²: 10%; p = 0.01).

Conclusion

This meta-analysis suggests that immediate revascularization is associated with a significantly lower risk of TVR and MI at 1-year compared to staged revascularization.