Effect of Eptifibatide on coronary flow reserve following coronary stent implantation - (An ESPRIT substudy)

Percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting improves epicardial large vessel lumen diameters but can be detrimental to the microcirculation as a result of either downstream embolization or vasospasm. Coronary flow reserv e (CFR) is a measure ment of the capacity of blood flow that is augmented i n response to adenosine (hyperemic flow) and is a valuable tool in assessin g the integrity of the microvasculature after stent placement. We hypothesi zed that patients treated with eptifibatide in the Enhanced Suppression of the Platelet IIb/IIIa Receptor with Integrilin Therapy (ESPRIT) trial(1) wo uld have improved CFR after elective stent placement compared with patients receiving placebo. Furthermore, we hypothesized that tissue level perfusio n would be improved with eptifibatide therapy, and we assessed the kinetics of myocardial perfusion using digital subtraction angiography.