TUESDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and death for patients with coronary artery disease but preserved left ventricular function, according to a report in the April 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
To test whether ACE inhibitors can reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with normal left ventricular function, Nicolas Danchin, M.D., from Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou in Paris, and colleagues reviewed the results of previously reported trials available in literature databases.
Their final analysis consisted of seven randomized, controlled trials that included five different ACE inhibitors and 33,960 patients with coronary artery disease, but without heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction. In an average follow-up of 4.4 years, ACE inhibitors decreased overall mortality by 14 percent, cardiovascular mortality by 19 percent, myocardial infarction by 18 percent and stroke by 23 percent.
"These results, along with those previously reported in patients who have coronary artery disease with left ventricular dysfunction or heart failure, suggest that ACE inhibitor therapy should be systematically used in all patients with documented coronary artery disease," the authors write.
Several of the authors have been drug company consultants, speakers or grant recipients.
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