WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who undergo invasive coronary revascularization during hospitalization for an acute myocardial infarction have a lower risk of death and heart failure than patients who do not undergo the procedure, researchers report in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Finlay A. McAlister, M.D., from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues examined the risk of mortality and heart failure in 13,472 patients (mean age 65 years) hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction, 24 percent of whom underwent invasive coronary revascularization during hospitalization.
After a mean follow-up of 32 months, the researchers found that patients who underwent invasive coronary revascularization had a significantly lower risk of mortality (5 versus 17 percent) and a significantly lower risk of heart failure, either during the hospitalization (17 versus 24 percent) or after discharge (4 versus 7 percent). The risk remained lower for both even after adjusting for other factors (hazard ratio 0.68 for heart failure, hazard ratio 0.60 for death or heart failure).
"In conclusion, invasive coronary revascularization during acute myocardial infarction hospitalization is associated with lower rates of death and subsequent heart failure; there is no trade-off of one outcome for the other," McAlister and colleagues write.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
