Although cocaine is a well-recognized risk factor for coronary disease, detailed information is lacking regarding related behavioral and clinical features of cocaine-associated ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban settings. Nor are systematic or extended follow-up data available on outcomes for cocaine-associated STEMI in the contemporary era of percutaneous coronary intervention. We leveraged a prospective STEMI registry from a large health system serving an inner-city community to characterize the clinical features, acute management, and middle-term outcomes of cocaine-related versus cocaine-unrelated STEMI. Of the 1,003 patients included, 60% were black or Hispanic. Compared with cocaine-unrelated STEMI, cocaine-related STEMI (n = 58) was associated with younger age, male gender, lower socioeconomic score, current smoking, high alcohol consumption, and human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity but less commonly with diabetes or hypertension. Cocaine users less often received drug-eluting stents or β blockers at discharge. During median follow-up of 2.7 years, rates of death, death or any rehospitalization, and death or cardiovascular rehospitalization did not differ significantly between cocaine users and nonusers but were especially high for death or any hospitalization in the 2 groups (31.4 vs 32.4 per 100 person-years, p = 0.887). Adjusted hazard ratios for outcomes were likewise not significantly different. In conclusion, in this low-income community, cocaine use occurred in a substantial fraction of STEMI cases, who were younger than their nonuser counterparts but had more prevalent high-risk habits and exhibited similarly high rates of adverse outcomes. These data suggest that programs targeting cocaine abuse and related behaviors could contribute importantly to disease prevention in disadvantaged communities.
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