Importance of a history of hypertension for the prognosis after acute myocardial infarction‐‐‐for the bucindolol evaluation in acute myocardial infarction trial (BEAT) study group

• Published in: Clinical cardiology (Mahwah, N.J.) Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 265 - 269
• Main Authors: Ali, Irma, Akman, Dilek, Bruun, Niels Eske, Køber, Lars, Brendorp, Bente, Ottesen, Michael, Møller, Jacob, Torp‐Pedersen, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.05.2004; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; betablocker; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Clinical Investigation; Clinical Investigations; Clinical manifestations. Epidemiology. Investigative techniques. Etiology; Coronary heart disease; Denmark - epidemiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heart; Humans; hypertension; Hypertension - complications; Hypertension - drug therapy; Hypertension - mortality; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; myocardial infarction; Myocardial Infarction - complications; Myocardial Infarction - drug therapy; Myocardial Infarction - mortality; Myocarditis. Cardiomyopathies; Prognosis; Propanolamines - therapeutic use; Registries - statistics & numerical data; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; survival; Survival Rate; Vasodilator Agents - therapeutic use; Denmark; Hypertension; Myocardial infarction; Evaluation; Prognosis; beta blocker; Acute; Cardiovascular disease; Beat; Bucindolol; History; Myocardial disease; Survival; Heart disease; Antihypertensive agent; ACE inhibitor; angiotensin- converting enzyme inhibitor
• ISSN: 0160-9289; 1932-8737
• DOI: 10.1002/clc.4960270504

Background: Arterial hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events. The prognosis for hypertensive patients after acute myocardial infarction (MI) is uncertain because of the sparse and somewhat contradictionary data. Hypothesis: Our study aimed to investigate the importance of hypertension to prognosis after an MI in patients receiving contemporary medical therapy. Methods: We performed a retrospective study using a large register from the Bucindolol Evaluation in Acute myocardial infarction Trial (BEAT). The register comprised 3,326 patients admitted between June 1998 and August 1999 with an enzyme‐verified MI to 33 Danish coronary care units. Hypertension was considered present when a previous diagnosis of hypertension was accompanied by relevant medical therapy. Survival information for all patients was obtained in January 2002. Results: Of the 3,326 patients studied, 825 were hypertensive. Overall, 28.4% had died by January 2002. The unadjusted hazard ratio associated with hypertension was 1.2 (95% confidence limit [CI] 1.1‐‐1.4, p = 0.004). Hypertensive patients were older, and after adjustment for age the hazard ratio associated with hypertension was 1.04 (CI 0.9‐‐1.2, p = 0.6). Adjustment for further covariates did not change the result. Conclusion: Our study showed that after an acute MI the survival rate of patients with and without a history of hypertension was identical when they received contemporary medical therapy.