Clinical trials studying the efficacy of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in
reducing adverse events after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have yielded conflicting
results, and data regarding the influence of n-3 PUFA treatment after AMI in routine
clinical practice are scarce. We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study
including patients from 5 Italian Local Health Units who were discharged from the
hospital with a primary diagnosis of AMI from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011.
Using unique patient identifiers, patients were linked across governmental hospital
discharge, medication prescription, and mortality databases and followed for 12-months
post-index discharge. Patient characteristics and risk of all-cause mortality and
repeat AMI were compared by n-3 PUFA prescription after discharge (for outcome analyses,
defined as ≥2 prescriptions) at a presumed dose of 1 g/day. Overall, 11,269 patients
met inclusion criteria, of which 2,425 patients (21.5%) were prescribed n-3 PUFA during
follow-up. Patients treated with n-3 PUFA tended to be younger, men, and carry a diagnosis
of diabetes and were more likely to be receiving guideline-recommended post-AMI medical
therapy, including β blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin
II receptor blockers, statins, and antiplatelet therapy (all p <0.001). After adjusting
for patient characteristics and concurrent therapies, n-3 PUFA treatment was associated
with reduced all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.97) and recurrent
AMI (hazard ratio 0.65, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.87) through 12-month follow-up. In conclusion,
in this large, contemporary, observational study of “real-world” Italian patients
hospitalized for AMI, the use of n-3 PUFA was independently associated with a robust
reduction in all-cause mortality and recurrent AMI. These data support further randomized
controlled trials with n-3 PUFA therapy in the post-AMI setting.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 17, 2015
Accepted:
October 30,
2015
Received in revised form:
October 30,
2015
Received:
September 6,
2015
Footnotes
The study was funded by Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals . (Pomezia, Italy)
Dr. Nodari had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
See page 345 for disclosure information.
Identification
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© 2016 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.