Background: Available data comparing long-term prognosis according to the type of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are scarce, contradictory, and outdated. Our aim was to compare short- and long-term mortality in ST-elevated (STEMI) and non-ST-elevated myocardial infarction (non-STEMI) ACS patients.
Methods: Patients presenting with an inaugural ACS during the year 2006 and living in one of the three areas in France covered by the Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) registry were included.
Results: A total of 1822 patients with a first ACS-1121 (61.5%) STEMI and 701 (38.5%) non-STEMI-were included in the study. At the 28-day follow-up, the mortality rates were 6.7% and 4.7% (p = 0.09) for STEMI and non-STEMI patients, respectively, and after adjustment of potential confounding factors, the 28-day probability of death was significantly lower for non-STEMI ACS patients (Odds Ratio = 0.58 (0.36-0.94), p = 0.03). At the 10-year follow-up, the death rates were 19.6% and 22.8% (p = 0.11) for STEMI and non-STEMI patients, respectively, and after adjustment of potential confounding factors, the 10-year probability of death did not significantly differ between non-STEMI and STEMI events (OR = 1.07 (0.83-1.38), p = 0.59). Over the first year, the mortality rate was 7.2%; it then decreased and stabilized at 1.7% per year between the 2nd and 10th year following ACS.
Conclusion: STEMI patients have a worse vital prognosis than non-STEMI patients within 28 days following ACS. However, at the 10-year follow-up, STEMI and non-STEMI patients have a similar vital prognosis. From the 2nd year onwards following the occurrence of a first ACS, the patients become stable coronary artery disease patients with an annual mortality rate in the 2% range, regardless of the type of ACS they initially present with.
Keywords: acute coronary syndrome; coronary heart disease; prognosis.