Fifteen-Year Mortality and Cardiac, Thrombotic, and Bleeding Events in Survivors of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: Although short-term mortality in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has improved, data is limited regarding very long-term mortality and concomitant clinical events in STEMI survivors who undergo primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI). This study aimed to evaluate these parameters at 15 years and to determine the predictors of 15-year mortality in these patients.

Methods: The study endpoints were all-cause mortality and cardiac mortality at 15 years. Independent predictors of all-cause mortality were also analyzed. Furthermore, each thrombotic and bleeding event was evaluated.

Results: Between January 2004 and December 2006, 260 STEMI survivors who underwent p-PCI (median follow-up period: 3970 days) were evaluated from the Ogaki Municipal hospital registry. The rates of all-cause mortality (cardiac mortality) at 5, 10, and 15 years were 12.1% (4.9%), 23.4% (9.5%), and 34.9% (12.4%), respectively. The cumulative incidences of recurrent myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic bleeding, and gastric bleeding at 15 years were 11.3%, 43.6%, 14.3%, 6.9%, and 10.9%, respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that age ≥ 75 years [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 7.074, p < 0.001], chronic kidney disease (aHR, 2.320, p = 0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction <40% (aHR, 2.930, p = 0.001), Killip class ≥II at admission (aHR, 2.639, p = 0.003), untreated chronic total occlusion (aHR, 2.090, p = 0.042), and final TIMI grade ≤ 2 (aHR, 1.736, p = 0.048) were independent predictors of all-cause mortality.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that all-cause and cardiac mortality at 15 years were 34.9% and 12.4%, respectively, in all-comers STEMI survivors after p-PCI, indicating that STEMI survivors might have a benign prognosis.