Predictors of cardiovascular prognosis in patients receiving optimized secondary prevention measures after acute coronary syndrome

After an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), optimal medical therapy (OMT) has been shown to be effective in reducing subsequent cardiovascular (CV) events. However, even in populations that reach recommended secondary prevention goals, there is a subset of patients that experience subsequent CV events.

To identify biological or clinical predictors of residual risk of CV events in post-ACS patients receiving OMT.

A total of 990 post-ACS patients benefited from OMT (optimized treatment during the acute and chronic post-ACS phase, along with a therapeutic and dietary education programme). Traditional CV risk factors and atheroma disease markers (intima‐media thickness measurement, carotid atheroma, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) measured by ankle brachial index, and the number of coronary arteries with a >50% stenosis) were evaluated at 3 months post ACS. Cardiovascular events were recorded at follow up.

At 20-month follow up, >80% of the patients reached the recommended secondary prevention goals. In this population, diabetes was the only CV risk factor significantly associated with CV events in multivariate analysis including traditional risk factors (HR 1.61, p = 0.017). In multivariate analyses including CV risk factors and atheroma disease markers, only PAD remained significantly associated with CV events (HR 1.83, p = 0.04). The number of vascular beds involved was associated with poorer prognosis (HR for disease in 3-vascular-beds 3.85, p = 0.001, using disease in 1-vascular-bed as a reference group).

In post-ACS patients with OMT, atheroma burden is a powerful prognostic marker of recurrent CV events, while diabetes remains the only independent marker of CV events among traditional CV risk factors.