Does comorbidity account for the excess mortality in patients with major bleeding in acute myocardial infarction?
BACKGROUND
Analyses from randomized controlled trials suggest that bleeding in patients with acute myocardial infarction is associated with poor outcomes. Because these data are not generalizable to all patients with acute myocardial infarction, we sought to better understand the scope of this problem in a "real-world" setting.


RESULTS
We examined the frequency of major bleeding in 40,087 patients with acute myocardial infarction enrolled in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events. Regression analyses were used to examine the association between patient and treatment characteristics, bleeding, and hospital and postdischarge outcomes. Major bleeding occurred in 2.8% of patients. These patients were older, more severely ill, and more likely to undergo invasive procedures. Patients with bleeding were more likely to die during hospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.6 to 2.2) but not after discharge (hazard ratio, 0.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 1.0) than patients who did not bleed. Continuation of antithrombotic therapies after day 1 was lower in patients who experienced early bleeding. Moreover, in patients who bled, hospital mortality was increased in those who discontinued aspirin, thienopyridines, or low-molecular-weight heparins.


CONCLUSIONS
Major bleeding occurred in 1 in 35 patients with acute myocardial infarction; these patients accounted for approximately 10% of all hospital deaths. Nevertheless, risk of hospital mortality associated with bleeding was much lower than reported in randomized controlled trials. These data suggest that although bleeding may be causally related to adverse outcomes in some patients in the real-world setting, it is often merely a marker for patients at higher risk for adverse outcomes.
Spencer
Frederick A
FA
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, 1200 Main St W, Hamilton, Canada, L8N 3Z5. fspence@mcmaster.ca
Moscucci
Mauro
M
Granger
Christopher B
CB
Gore
Joel M
JM
Goldberg
Robert J
RJ
Steg
Philippe Gabriel
PG
Goodman
Shaun G
SG
Budaj
Andrzej
A
FitzGerald
Gordon
G
Fox
Keith A A
KA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D010351:Patient Discharge; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012042:Registries; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000925:Anticoagulants; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents