Long-term survival in patients with acute myocardial infarction and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A prospective cohort study.

AIM: To compare short- and long-term survival in patients admitted to hospital after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with and without out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). METHODS: Prospective cohort study of all AMI patients admitted to Oslo University Hospital Ulleval from September 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011. All-cause mortality was obtained from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry with censoring date December 31, 2013. Cumulative survival was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier and the Life-table method. Logistic- and Cox regression were used for risk comparisons. RESULTS: We identified 404 AMI patients with OHCA and 9425 AMI patients without. AMI patients without OHCA were categorized as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI, n=4522) or non-STEMI (NSTEMI, n=4903). Mean age was 63.6±standard deviation (SD) 12.5, 63.8±13.1 and 69.7±13.6 years in OHCA, STEMI and NSTEMI, respectively. Coronary angiography with subsequent percutaneous coronary intervention if indicated, was performed in 87% of OHCA, 97% of STEMI and 80% of NSTEMI patients. Thirty-day survival was 63%, 94% and 94%, and 8-year survival was 49%, 74%, and 57%, respectively. Among patients surviving the first 30days, no significant difference in risk during long-term follow-up was found (adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR)OHCAvsSTEMI 1.15 [95% CI 0.82-1.60], aHROHCAvsNSTEMI 0.89 [95% CI 0.64-1.24]). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival after OHCA due to AMI was good, with 49% of admitted patients being alive after eight years. Although short-term mortality remained high, OHCA patients alive after 30days had similar long-term risk as AMI patients without OHCA.

Long-term survival in octogenarians and older patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the era of primary angioplasty: A prospective cohort study.

AIM: We aimed to study in-hospital mortality and long-term survival in elderly compared to younger patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the era of primary angioplasty. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a prospective cohort study. All consecutive STEMI-patients admitted to our hospital between September 2005-December 2011 were included in a local registry. Predefined variables were registered during hospital admission. Vital status was obtained from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry with censoring date 31 December 2011. Adjusted effects of age ⩾80 years on in-hospital- and long-term mortality were determined using propensity score analysis. Of 4525 registered STEMI patients, 600 (13%) were octogenarians or older. In-hospital mortality was 17% in patients ⩾80 years and 4% in patients <80 years. In invasively treated patients (83% of patients ⩾80 years; 98% of patients <80 years), in-hospital mortality was 13% and 3.4%, respectively. Median follow-up time was 2.5 years. Three-year cumulative survival was 52% in patients ⩾80 years vs 89% in patients <80 years. In invasively treated patients ⩾80 years, three-year survival was 58%. The adjusted odds ratio of in-hospital mortality was 2.61 (1.94-3.52) and adjusted incidence rate ratio of long-term mortality was 4.07 (3.43-4.84) in very elderly compared to younger patients. CONCLUSION: Short-term prognosis was acceptable in very elderly STEMI patients, especially in the invasively treated subgroup. However, only 52% of STEMI patients ⩾80 years were alive after three years of follow-up. Very elderly patients had 2.6 times higher risk of in-hospital mortality and 4.1 times the risk of not surviving during long-term follow-up compared to patients <80 years, after adjustment for confounding factors and selection bias.

Prevalence of risk factors at presentation and early mortality in patients aged 80 years or older with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Elderly patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are at high risk for complications and early mortality; still, they are underrepresented in clinical trials and observational studies. We studied the risk profiles at presentation and early mortality in elderly (≥80 years) versus younger (<80 years) STEMI patients. DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study. METHODS: The study population comprised 4,092 consecutive STEMI patients admitted to Oslo University Hospital, Ulleval from 2006 to 2010. Baseline characteristics at admission were recorded, as well as in-hospital mortality. Etiologic strategy was used in the analyses. RESULTS: Patients ≥80 years of age (n=536) were more likely to be women and have prior myocardial infarction, angina, and stroke, but were less likely to be current smokers. The crude in-hospital mortality was 16.2% in patients aged 80 years and older versus 3.5% in those younger than 80 years. The adjusted odds ratio for mortality in patients aged 80 years and older versus those younger than 80 years increased with increasing levels of serum creatinine and total cholesterol. In patients with low levels of serum creatinine and total cholesterol, the odds ratio was 3.01 (95% confidence interval, 1.86-4.93; P=0.0001); increasing to 11.72 (95% confidence interval, 5.26-26.3; P=0.001) in patients with high levels. CONCLUSION: High levels of serum cholesterol and creatinine were important risk factors for early mortality in elderly patients. Depending on the levels of cholesterol and creatinine, in-hospital mortality in patients aged 80 years and older varied from a threefold to an almost twelvefold risk compared with younger patients.

Unchanged antibiotic susceptibility in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa after long-term in vitro exposure to antineoplastic drugs.

BACKGROUND: Certain antineoplastic drugs inhibit bacterial growth. Whether these drugs also cause genetic changes in bacteria that lead to increased antibiotic resistance is not yet documented. Given the massive and repeated antibiotic treatment most cancer patients undergo, this question is important. We have examined the possible effects of in vitro long-term antineoplastic exposure on antibiotic resistance. METHODS: Using the disc diffusion method, two bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ATCC 27583) were exposed to methotrexate, fluorouracil, vincristine, doxorubicin and cytarabine during 50 overnight cycles. The bacterial strains were susceptibility-tested to several antibiotics before and after repeated exposure to antineoplastics. RESULTS: No changes in antibiotic susceptibility were seen in the two bacterial strains after long-term exposure to any of the antineoplastic drugs tested. CONCLUSION: Long-term in vitro antineoplastic exposure did not change the antibiotic susceptibility in the E. coli or P. aeruginosa strains.