Could Early MI, Stroke Increase Long-Term Mortality Risk?

Women who experience a cardiovascular event at a young age, especially while taking oral contraceptives, have a significantly higher long-term mortality risk than healthy women, according to a recent study.

Disease burden remains high for survivors of acute cardiovascular events, especially those that experience these events in young age. Despite this, little information is available on the long-term outcomes seen in women who survive ischemic stroke (IS) and myocardial infarction (MI) at a young age.
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For their study, researchers analyzed data from 226 women with a history of MI, 160 with IS, and 782 controls, all of whom had participated in the Risk of Arterial Thrombosis in Relation to Oral Contraceptives study and were between 18 and 50 years old.

After a mean follow-up of 18.7 years, women who had experienced MI had mortality rates 3.7 times higher than controls, and rates in women who had experienced IS were 1.8 times higher than controls.

While the relative risks were significant, researchers cautioned that they ned to be put into perspective by considering the absolute risks, with nearly 90% of whomen who experienced IS and 80% who experienced MI still alive after 20 years of follow-up.

Researchers concluded that in these women it is important to keep cardiovascular burden as low as possible and possibly to reconsider oral contraception use as well.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Maino A, Siegerink B, Algra A, et al. Recurrence and mortality in young women with myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke. JAMA Intern Med. November 23, 2015 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.6523.