The age, creatinine, and ejection fraction score to risk stratify patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention of coronary chronic total occlusion

Age, creatinine, and ejection fraction (ACEF) score predict clinical outcomes in patients who underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of nonocclusive coronary stenoses. We aimed at assessing the prognostic value of the ACEF score in patients who underwent successful PCI of chronic total occlusion (CTO). ACEF score was calculated in 587 patients treated with PCI of CTO: successful in 433 (74%; success group) and failed in 154 patients (26%; failure group). Patients were divided in ACEF tertiles: first <0.950, second from 0.950 to 1.207, and third ACEF tertile >1.207. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE = overall death + nonfatal myocardial infarction + clinically driven target vessel revascularization) were assessed in 558 patients (95%) up to 24 months (8 to 24 months). In success group, higher MACE rate was significantly associated with increasing ACEF tertile (first = 7%, second = 13%, third ACEF = 18%, p = 0.02). MACE-free survival was significantly decreased with increasing ACEF tertile (log-rank 5.58, p = 0.018). In the failure group, lower MACE rate was significantly associated with increasing ACEF tertile (p = 0.041). This was mainly driven by significant decreasing rate of target vessel revascularization along the tertiles (first = 34%, second = 19%, third ACEF = 10%, p = 0.007). Compared with success group, in failure group, MACE rate was significantly higher in the first tertile (p <0.001) and similar in the third tertile (p = 0.59). In conclusion, ACEF score represents a simple tool in the prognostication of patients successfully treated with PCI of CTO and identifies those patients who would not derive any significant clinical harm despite failed percutaneous revascularization of the CTO.