Introduction
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is an important cause of morbidity and
mortality in patients with coronary heart disease worldwide. It is
important to identify high-risk patients, and the main goal of treatment
in AMI is to restore microvascular flow and maintain myocardial
perfusion (1). Various markers such as electrocardiography and coronary
angiography have been used to determine myocardial reperfusion (2,3).
Fragmented QRS in 12-lead ECG has been shown to be associated with
myocardial scarring in heart disease (4,5) and it is also associated
with cardiac mortality and morbidity in heart disease (6,7). The
presence of f-QRS has been associated with predicting ventricular
tachyarrhythmia in ischemic cardiomyopathy, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy,
hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, Brugada syndrome, and
arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, and it has been also
associated with sudden cardiac death in these diseases (8).
Although f-QRS is associated with depolarization, it is so far poorly
understood regarding microvascular function in patients with acute
myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study is to assess the
relationship between microvascular dysfunction and the presence of f-QRS
in patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction (MI) who underwent
successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).