Search

Aims: The aim was to describe the prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) developing left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction or pulmonary congestion by applying different criteria to define the population., Methods and Results: In patients with MI included in the Swedish web-system for enhancement and development of evidence-based care in heart disease (SWEDEHEART) registry, four different sets of criteria were applied, creating four not mutually exclusive subsets of patients: patients with MI and ejection fraction (EF) < 50% and/or pulmonary congestion (subset 1); EF < 40% and/or pulmonary congestion (subset 2); EF < 40% and/or pulmonary congestion and at least one high-risk feature (subset 3, PARADISE-MI like); and EF < 50% and no diabetes mellitus (subset 4, DAPA-MI like). Subsets 1, 2, 3, and 4 constituted 31.6%, 15.0%, 12.8%, and 22.8% of all patients with MI (n = 87 177), respectively. The age and prevalence of different co-morbidities varied between subsets. For median age, 70 to 77, for diabetes mellitus, 22 to 33%; for chronic kidney disease, 22 to 38%, for prior MI, 17 to 21%, for atrial fibrillation, 7 to 14%, and for ST-elevations, 38 to 50%. The cumulative incidence of death or heart failure hospitalization at 3 years was 17.4% (95% CI: 17.1-17.7%) in all MIs; 26.9% (26.3-27.4%) in subset 1; 37.6% (36.7-38.5%) in subset 2; 41.8% (40.7-42.8%) in subset 3; and 22.6% (22.0-23.2%) in subset 4., Conclusions: Depending on the definition, LV systolic dysfunction or pulmonary congestion is present in 13-32% of all patients with MI and is associated with a two to three times higher risk of subsequent death or HF admission. There is a need to optimize management and improve outcomes for this high-risk population., (© 2023 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between adherence to beta-blocker treatment after a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and long-term risk of heart failure (HF) and death., Methods and Results: All patients admitted for a first AMI included in the nationwide Swedish web-system for enhancement and development of evidence-based care in heart disease evaluated according to recommended therapies register between 2005 and 2010 were eligible (n = 71 638). After exclusion of patients who died in-hospital, patients with previous HF, patients with unknown left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), and patients who died during the first year after the index event, 38 608 patients remained in the final analysis. Adherence to prescribed beta-blockers was determined for 1 year after the index event using the national registry for prescribed drugs and was measured as proportion of days covered, the ratio between the numbers of days covered by the dispensed prescriptions and number of days in the period. As customary, a threshold level for proportion of days covered ≥80% was used to classify patients as adherent or non-adherent. At discharge 90.6% (n = 36 869) of all patients were prescribed a beta-blocker. Among 38 608 1 year survivors, 31.1% (n = 12 013) were non-adherent to beta-blockers. Patients with reduced EF with and without HF were more likely to remain adherent to beta-blockers at 1-year compared with patients with normal EF without HF (NEF). Being married/cohabiting and having higher income level, hypertension, ST-elevation MI, and percutaneous coronary intervention were associated with better adherence. Adherence was independently associated with lower all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.84] and a lower risk for the composite of HF readmission/death, (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.78-0.89, P value <0.001) during the subsequent 4 years of follow up. These associations were favourable but less apparent in patients with HFNEF and NEF., Conclusions: Nearly one in three AMI patients was non-adherent to beta-blockers within the first year. Adherence was independently associated with improved long-term outcomes; however, uncertainty remains for patients with HFNEF and NEF., (© 2020 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)