Clinical benefit of adenosine as an adjunct to reperfusion in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients: An updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Adenosine administered as an adjunct to reperfusion can reduce coronary no-reflow and limit myocardial infarct (MI) size in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Whether adjunctive adenosine therapy can improve clinical outcomes in reperfused STEMI patients is not clear and is investigated in this meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We performed an up-to-date search for all RCTs investigating adenosine as an adjunct to reperfusion in STEMI patients. We calculated pooled relative risks using a fixed-effect meta-analysis assessing the impact of adjunctive adenosine therapy on major clinical endpoint including all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and heart failure. Surrogate markers of reperfusion were also analyzed. Results: 13 RCTs (4273 STEMI patients) were identified and divided into 2 subgroups: intracoronary adenosine versus control (8 RCTs) and intravenous adenosine versus control (5 RCTs). In patients administered intracoronary adenosine, the incidence of heart failure was significantly lower (risk ratio [RR] 0.44 [95% CI 0.25–0.78], P = 0.005) and the incidence of coronary no-reflow was reduced (RR for TIMI flow