Role of Intracoronary Adrenaline in the Treatment of No-Reflow Phenomenon in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

The no-reflow phenomenon is defined as the failure to restore coronary flow demonstrated by the reduced or missing flow in angiography despite the patent artery. There are pharmacological strategies proposed and studied to manage the no-reflow phenomenon. The medication groups used are purine nucleoside (adenosine), calcium channel blockers (verapamil, nicardipine), beta 2 receptor agonists (adrenaline, nitroprusside), fibrinolytic agents (streptokinase, tissue plasminogen activators), glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (abciximab, tirofiban). We present a case of a woman hospitalized in non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) conditions. The patient underwent coronary angiography, in which a single vessel coronary artery disease (CAD); left anterior descending (LAD) stenosis of 90% was found. In this condition, the patient underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of LAD. The no-reflow phenomenon occurred with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade of 0 during the procedure. As a consequence, the patient presented chest pain and important hypotension (BP of 70/45). Because of the hypotensive state of the patient, we decided to administer intracoronary (IC) adrenaline directly. In our case, we used adrenaline as a first-line treatment for the no-flow phenomenon due to the hypotensive state during the PCI procedure. Generally, we initially use IC nitrate or IC adenosine to resolve the phenomenon, and when the no-reflow persists we use IC adrenaline because of its side effects mentioned above. Anyway, we believe that in specific cases of hypotension and bradycardia, the use of adrenaline as the first line of therapy should be considered.

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The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.