2.1. STUDY POPULATION

Total amount of 586 patients were admitted to our emergency department with STEMI between January 2014 and December 2016, and underwent emergent cardiac catheterization at Clinic for cardiovascular Disease, University Clinical Center Tuzla. Inclusion criteria were admission within 12 hours of onset of chest pain (18 hours for cardiogenic shock). Electrocardiogram (ECG) criteria were ST-segment elevation of at least 0.1 mV in minimum 2 consecutive leads (0.2mV for V1-V3) or new or presumably new left bundle branch block accompanying chest pain. After emergent angiography and baseline evaluation, 37 patients were excluded from the study with the following reasons: medical treatment due to very small diameter of infarct related artery (n=9), decision on bypass surgery (n=8), myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA)(n=20). The remaining 549 patients (351males, 198 females; mean age 58.6±8.08) formed the study group who were underwent primary PCI.