Acute coronary syndromes in patients with pre-existing moderate to severe valvular disease of the heart: lessons from the Euro-Heart Survey of acute coronary syndromes

Aim To determine the frequency of pre-existing valvular disease (VD) among patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and to compare the clinical characteristics, clinical course, treatment, and outcomes of ACS patients with and without pre-existing VD. Methods and results The Euro Heart Survey ACS prospectively enrolled 10,484 ACS patients in 103 hospitals in 25 countries across Europe and the Mediterranean basin. Of the 10,207 patients with data on VD status, 489 (4.8%) had a diagnosis of pre-existing VD: 3.7% of 4339 ST-segment-elevation-ACS patients, 5.2% of 5210 non-ST-segment-elevation-ACS patients, and 10.8% of 658 undetermined-electrocardiogram-ACSpatients. Moderate/severe mitral regurgitation had been diagnosed in 54.0% (48.7% without and 5.3% with concomitant mitral stenosis), and moderate/severe aortic stenosis occurred in 31.7% (26.4% without and 5.3% with concomitant aortic regurgitation). Patients with pre-existing VD had worse baseline clinical and demographic characteristics, were more likely to present with heart failure and less likely to have typical angina, and had a more complicated in-hospital course (heart failure, atrial arrhythmias, and renal failure). They were more likely to receive inotropic agents, diuretics, amiodarone, and warfarin, and less likely to receive antiplatelet agentsand beta-adrenergic blockers. As compared to patients without VD, the adjustedrisk (95% confidence interval) of in-hospital death for VD patients was 1.55 (0.85, 2.80), 1.92 (1.03, 3.59), and 1.77 (0.75, 4.17) for ST-segment-elevation-ACS, non-ST-segment-elevation-ACS, and undetermined-electrocardiogram-ACS, respectively. Conclusions Patients with ACS and pre-existing VD constitute about 5% of all ACS patients; they have high-risk features and poor prognosis. There is a need to better define their optimal treatment, in order to improve their prognosis.