[Combination therapy at hospital discharge in the USIC 2000 survey].
We tried to determine the prognostic impact of triple (antiplatelet agents, statins and beta-blockers) and quadruple (the same+ACE inhibitors) combination therapy at hospital discharge after acute myocardial infarction. The USIC 2000 survey is nationwide registry of consecutive patients admitted to intensive care units for acute myocardial infarction in November 2000 in France. Of the 2119 patients discharged alive, 1095 (52%) were prescribed a combination of antiplatelet agents, beta-blockers and statins (triple therapy), including 567 (27%) with a similar combination plus ACE inhibitors (quadruple therapy). One-year survival was 97% in patients receiving triple combination therapy versus 88% in those who received either no, one or two of these medications (p < 0.0001). After multivariate adjustment, the odds ratio for one-year mortality in patients with triple combination therapy was 0.49 (95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.75). Quadruple combination therapy had no additional predictive value in the entire population. In patients with ejection fraction < or = 35%, however, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors were independent predictors of survival, and combination therapy had no additional prognostic value.


CONCLUSIONS
compared with the prescription of any single class of secondary prevention medications, combination therapy offers additional protection in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Chaib
Aurès
A
Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.
Henegariu
Viviana
V
Danchin
Nicolas
N
Guéret
Pascal
P
Lablanche
Jean-Marc
JM
Genès
Nathalie
N
Blanchard
Didier
D
Vaur
Laurent
L
Clerson
Pierre
P
Hanania
Guy
G
Cambou
Jean-Pierre
JP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010351:Patient Discharge
D004338:Drug Combinations