Despite the technical advancement of percutaneous coronary intervention, major adverse cardiac events after percutaneous coronary intervention are still a critical issue in Korea as well as in western society. Recently, low left ventricular ejection fraction and depressive symptoms have been regarded as independent predictors of adverse outcomes after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention. However, there are few studies on the combined effect of left ventricular ejection fraction at baseline and post-cardiac depressive symptoms on major adverse cardiac events after percutaneous coronary intervention.

The aim of the current study is to examine the combined effect of low left ventricular ejection fraction and post-cardiac depressive symptoms on major adverse cardiac events after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

A total of 221 patients who underwent successful percutaneous coronary intervention were assessed for left ventricular ejection fraction and depressive symptoms at baseline and 1 month after discharge, using the patient health questionnaire 9. Major adverse cardiac event-free survival rates during the 12-month follow-up period were analysed by Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazard regression methods.

We found that the combined effect of baseline left ventricular ejection fraction less than 60% and depressive symptoms at 1 month after discharge were significantly correlated with increased incidence of major adverse cardiac events after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (hazard ratio 4.049; 95% confidence interval 1.365–12.011) after adjusting for sex, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, depressive symptoms at baseline and comorbidity.

Our results suggest that healthcare professionals should be aware of the necessity of early screening for post-cardiac depressive symptoms after discharge in percutaneous coronary intervention patients with a low left ventricular ejection fraction.