Drug may improve outcomes after heart attack

Results of REMINDER trial show that in addition to standard treatment, eplerenone may also reduce risk of heart failure

2013-03-12

(Press-News.org) SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — The prescription drug eplerenone appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality and heart failure after a heart attack by more than one-third, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

The REMINDER (Reduction of heart failure morbidity in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction) trial was a randomized, double-blind trial of 1,012 patients who had a heart attack caused by a complete blockage of one of the heart's arteries. Patients had no signs or history of heart failure. They were given either eplerenone or placebo in addition to standard therapy. Overall, patients taking eplerenone were 38 percent less likely to have poor outcomes than those given a placebo.

Eplerenone counteracts a hormone called aldosterone, which can increase blood pressure. The drug is currently approved to treat hypertension and as a treatment for patients who have heart failure several days after a heart attack.

"This is the first randomized trial to test a mineralocorticoid receptor agonist during the acute phase of heart attack, and the results suggest a clinical benefit," said Gilles Montalescot, MD, PhD, lead investigator of the study and professor of cardiology and head of the Cardiac Care Unit at Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital, Paris.

About 5.8 million Americans have heart failure, a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's oxygen and energy needs. Improvements in heart attack treatment have increased chances of survival, but damage after heart attack is one risk factor for heart failure. Clinical trials and registries show that in the 30 days after a first heart attack, between 8.6 percent and 40 percent of patients will be diagnosed with heart failure.

The primary endpoint of the REMINDER trial included several outcomes: Cardiovascular mortality Rehospitalization or extended initial hospital stay due to heart failure Severe rhythm disruptions of the heart (arrhythmias) Ejection fraction of 40 percent or lower after one month, which can indicate heart failure An elevation of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its associated protein, NT-proBNP, after one month, which can indicate heart failure

Patients who had one of these outcomes were considered to have reached the primary endpoint. After a mean follow-up of 10.5 months, patients on eplerenone had one of these outcomes less often than those receiving placebo (18.4 vs. 29.6 percent, p END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Investigational drug reduces heart damage during angioplasty

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — A single dose of an investigational anti-inflammatory drug, inclacumab, reduced damage to heart tissue during angioplasty in a study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. More than 1 million coronary angioplasty procedures are performed in the United States each year, at a cost of more than $10 billion. Heart tissue can be damaged during angioplasty, often leading to additional procedures, poor outcomes and higher health care costs. In this trial, researchers compared a single dose of ...

Clot-busting drug as effective as angioplasty

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — A clot-busting therapy may benefit some heart attack patients who cannot have immediate angioplasty, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. "Drug therapy before transfer is at least as effective as [angioplasty], and an urgent catheterization was avoided in two-thirds of patients," said Frans Van de Werf, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology at University of Leuven, Belgium, and the study's lead investigator. "It gives [clinicians] time to consider other options, such ...

Drug reduces chest pain in patients with diabetes

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — A commonly used anti-anginal drug reduces chest pain in patients with type 2 diabetes and appears to have a more pronounced effect in those with poorer glucose control, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Ranolazine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of chronic angina, or chest pain, both as first line therapy and as an add-on when symptoms are not relieved with other anti-anginal drugs, including beta-blockers, calcium channel ...

High-dose oral vitamins, minerals do not reduce recurrent cardiac events in heart attack patients

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — Heart attack patients given a combination of high-dose oral vitamins and minerals do not exhibit a significant reduction in recurrent cardiac events, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. However, the results of one component of the NIH-funded Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) study, shows that when combined with active chelation therapy, high-dose vitamins and minerals may provide some additional benefit. The TACT study tested the safety and effectiveness of ...

Digoxin reduces hospital admissions in older patients with chronic heart failure

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) —Digoxin significantly reduces the likelihood of hospital admission due to all causes among ambulatory older patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers reviewed patient outcomes from 1995 in the Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG) trial of 6,800 patients with HFrEF—a condition in which the heart is too weak to pump and patients suffer from breathlessness and fatigue. Patients with HFrEF ...

Clot-busting drug benefits intermediate-risk patients with pulmonary embolism

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) — The clot-busting drug tenecteplase prevents death or circulatory collapse in a subgroup of patients with a blood clot in the lungs and appears to be especially useful in patients younger than 75, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Pulmonary embolism occurs when part of a blood clot in a vein breaks off and travels to the lungs. It is fatal about 10 percent of the time, killing between 60,000 and 100,000 Americans each year. The most common cause of death is progressive ...

Screenings, targeted care reduce heart failure in at-risk patients

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) — For at-risk patients, a simple screening and management program can be effective in preventing heart failure, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. The five-year STOP-HF study enrolled asymptomatic patients over 40 years of age with risk factors for heart failure and randomized them into an intervention and a control group. Patients in the intervention group were screened for blood levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a hormone that indicates how well the heart ...

No benefit found from BP drug in treatment of recently hospitalized heart failure patients

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) —Despite high hopes that a blood pressure-lowering medication called aliskiren would help people following hospitalization for heart failure, no beneficial effects were found, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization for people over age 65, costing Medicare billions of dollars annually, and researchers are always on the lookout for more effective treatments. The Aliskiren Trial on Acute Heart Failure Outcomes (ASTRONAUT) ...

Erectile dysfunction drug fails for diastolic heart failure patients

2013-03-12

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) — Despite high expectations for a commonly used erectile dysfunction drug to treat patients with diastolic heart failure, no beneficial effects were found in a study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. The RELAX Study is the first multicenter trial to look at the effect of chronic therapy with sildenafil in diastolic heart failure. Sildenafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, a class of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction and certain types of pulmonary arterial hypertension. ...

Low T3 syndrome predicts unfavorable outcomes in surgical patients with brain tumor

2013-03-12

Charlottesville, VA (March 12, 2013). In a study of 90 patients undergoing surgery for brain tumor, researchers in Lithuania (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences) and the United States (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard University) have discovered that the finding of low T3 (triiodothyronine) syndrome is predictive of unfavorable clinical outcomes and depressive symptoms. Details of this study are furnished in the article "Low triiodothyronine syndrome as a predictor of poor outcomes in patients undergoing brain tumor ...

Drug may improve outcomes after heart attack

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: