Heart attack prevention within three months after hospitalization significantly averted future attacks

Despite substantial progress in the diagnosis and treatment of heart attack patients, prevention of recurrent heart attacks continues to be a major clinical challenge.

A new study showed that patients who suffered a non-fatal heart attack within the first three months of hospitalization for chest pain had a significantly higher risk for dying or having another heart attack (in the following three months to four years) compared with patients who did not experience a heart attack during the same initial period. The findings from the more-than-15,000- patient study were presented today at the annual meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), November 8-11.

In the study, patients who suffered a heart attack during the first three months after hospital admission for coronary artery disease compared with those who did not experience a heart attack during the same period were 62 percent (p<0.001) more likely to die and 84 percent (p<0.001) more likely to have an additional heart attack or death within four years. The increased rate of heart attack and death among patients who had a heart attack remained similar even when the monitoring was extended from a three-to-six month period. The researchers found that patients who suffered a heart attack within the six month period were 61 percent (p<0.001) more likely to die, and 86 percent (p<0.001) were more likely to suffer a recurrent heart attack or death over a four-year period compared with those who did not experience a heart attack.