Trends in the history and fate of patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

The aim of the study is to report on the history of ischemic heart disease (IHD), clinical course and early and late mortality in 1291 middle-aged men (<65 years) hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction in the 2006a2016 period. All patients admitted within 24h (90% of patients) underwent angiography on arrival; urgent infarct-related artery PCI was performed in 85.4% of all patients; of these 14.6% had PCI on another (non-infarct related) artery PCI while 7.7% had coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Primary ventricular fibrillation and cardiogenic shock occurred in 8.6% and 5.1% of patients, respectively. Cardiogenic shock-related mortality was 53%. Twenty-eight-day mortality in our entire patient cohort was 4.8%, with one-year mortality (28 days onward to 1 year) being 1.7%. Long-term mortality of our cohort, monitored until end of 2015, was adversely affected by older age, pre-existing coronary heart disease [finding based on data above previous PCI or CABG, or previous myocardial infarction (p<0.040)], low left ventricular ejection fraction on admission (p<0.001; <35%) and manifestations of acute heart failure (shock; Killip III; p<0.001). A total of 1158 patients lived longer than one year, of which number 79.3% were available for outpatient assessment at 1 year. Another non-fatal event occurred in only 8 patients (0.9%), with angina reported by 54 men (5.9%).Another aim of our study was to document changes in the history of IHD, clinical picture and death rates occurring in men in the above age category between 1970 and 2016. Analysis and comparison of these parameters were made using the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) registries as well as of our own datasets obtained between 1970 and 1977, in the 1991a1995 period (thrombolytic era) and the most recent dataset collected between 2006 and 2016. In-hospital (28-day) mortality decreased from 15 to 16.6% in the pre-reperfusion therapy period through 8.7% in the thrombolytic era down to the most recent 4.8% reported in the 2006a2016 period. This was paralleled by a decrease in one-year mortality (28+ to 365 days) declining as it did from 11.5% to the current 1.6%. Marked changes were likewise seen in the past history of patients. The incidence of pre-existing angina decreased from 42% in the 1970s to 24% in the predominantly thrombolytic era down to the current 6.1%. A similar downward trend was noted in the incidence of previous myocardial infarction, falling from 25 to 30% to the current 9.6%.The lower incidence of angina prior to the event as well as previous myocardial infarction can be attributed not only to more effective medication and secondary prevention but, also, to the current strategies of revascularization in patients with angina and early myocardial revascularization in individuals experiencing a coronary event.Taken together, the factors behind the reduced mortality of patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction are not only early infarct-related artery recanalization but, also, a lower incidence of a previous myocardial infarction plus better status of the coronary vascular bed in patients with previously diagnosed angina and previous myocardial infarction.