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Detecting subtle myocardial injury after percutaneous coronary intervention: Insights from electrocardiography and heart rate variability analysis
Maryam Salimi, Khashayar Hematpour, Department of Advanced Cardiopulmonary Therapies and Transplantations (ACTAT), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Author contributions: Salimi M designed the overall outline of the manuscript and drafted it; Hematpour K edited and supervised the manuscript; Salimi M and Hematpour K contributed to this paper, read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
AI contribution statement: During the preparation of this work, the authors used Open-AI’s ChatGPT to improve readability and language. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Corresponding author: Khashayar Hematpour, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Advanced Cardiopulmonary Therapies and Transplantations (ACTAT), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, McGovern Medical School, 6400 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States. khashayar.hematpour@gmail.com
Received: December 2, 2025
Revised: February 2, 2026
Accepted: March 3, 2026
Published online: June 26, 2026
Processing time: 199 Days and 4.8 Hours
Revised: February 2, 2026
Accepted: March 3, 2026
Published online: June 26, 2026
Processing time: 199 Days and 4.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Subtle myocardial stress after percutaneous coronary intervention is common but frequently undetected by routine electrocardiography (ECG) interpretation or selective biomarker testing. A composite ECG-heart rate variability analytical approach has been proposed to capture small electrical and autonomic changes shortly after coronary intervention. Although early and exploratory, this strategy illustrates how more nuanced ECG analysis may complement existing tools and improve post-percutaneous coronary intervention risk assessment once validated.