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Heart attack patients without obstructive coronary artery disease are at high risk of residual angina

Patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) are just as at risk of angina as those with obstructive CAD, according to new research published today in the European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes.

Coronary Artery Disease, Acute Coronary Syndromes, Acute Cardiac Care


Embargoed until 00.05 BST on Thursday 20th August 2015

According to researchers in America, patients are at a substantial risk of incurring residual angina following their heart attack, even when they do not have obstructive CAD. They analysed data from 5539 patients and 31 hospitals to discover that patients without obstructive CAD were just as likely to have angina in the 12 months following their heart attack as those with obstructive CAD. Those patients were also just as likely to be re-hospitalized in the year following their heart attack as those who had coronary artery disease. Dr Anna Grodzinsky, a Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute Cardiovascular Fellow in Kansas City, Missouri and lead author of the article, commented that: “our findings highlight the importance of aggressive medical therapy and follow-up in patients with MI and no obstructive CAD, in order to potentially reduce their burden of angina, improve the quality of life, and prevent re-hospitalizations.”

Dr. Grodzinsky went on to say that: “non-invasive strategies to reduce angina burden could have a significant impact of their health and quality of life. Angina is a potentially modifiable condition and therefore patient symptoms could be improved, as well as healthcare costs.” With one in four patients (without obstructive CAD) found to report angina in the year following their initial heart attack, the article suggests that angina symptoms should be aggressively managed with the goal of improved outcomes.

This is the first study to focus on the burden of residual angina after an initial heart attack and re-hospitalizations in patients without versus with obstructive coronary artery disease.

References

’Angina frequency after acute myocardial infarction in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease’ Anna Grodzinsky, Suzanne V. Arnold, Kensey Gosch, John A. Spertus, JoAnne M. Foody, John Beltrame, Thomas M. Maddox, Sismita Parashar, and Mikhail Kosiborod. European Heart Journal – Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, doi: 10.1093/ehjqcco/qcv01

Paper online (free access) here

Notes to editor

European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes is an English language, peer reviewed journal focused on publishing quality cardiovascular outcomes research. It is an official journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and has a close alliance with the new European Heart Health Institute.

It is published on behalf of the ESC by Oxford University Press. Please acknowledge source as European Heart Journal  - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes in any reports.

Oxford Journals is a division of Oxford University Press. We publish well over 230 academic and research journals covering a broad range of subject areas, two-thirds of which are published in collaboration with learned societies and other international organizations. We have been publishing journals for more than a century, and as part of the world’s oldest and largest university press, have more than 500 years of publishing expertise behind us. Follow Oxford Journals on Twitter: @OxfordJournals

About the European Society of Cardiology
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 90 000 cardiology professionals across Europe and worldwide. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.