Stent Retriever Thrombectomy Reduces Infarct Size in High-Thrombus Myocardial Infarction: Insights from the NATURE Trial

Highlight

• Stent retriever thrombectomy adjunctive to PCI significantly lowers infarct size in STEMI patients with large thrombus burden compared to conventional PCI alone.
• The trial showed a meaningful reduction in creatine kinase-MB area under the curve (CK-MB AUC), a biochemical marker of myocardial injury.
• Exploratory cardiac MRI corroborated reduced infarct size with thrombectomy, with no significant differences in left ventricular volumes or ejection fraction at early follow-up.
• Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were low and comparable between groups, affirming the safety of the thrombectomy approach.

Study Background