Optimal medical therapy for secondary prevention after an acute coronary syndrome: 18-month follow-up results at a tertiary teaching hospital in South Korea

The Prevalence and Impact of Evidence-Based Medications on Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Outcomes in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome Post-Revascularization in Oman

OBJECTIVES

International cardiovascular guidelines recommend prescribing a combination of five evidence-based medications (EBM) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients post-revascularization. This study aims to assess the prevalence and impact of prescribing the full (five medications) versus partial (four medications or fewer) EBM combination on major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in patients with ACS post-revascularization.

METHODS

Data from patients with ACS who had revascularization between January 2016 and September 2021 were collected retrospectively. Patients were then followed up until March 2022 for MACCE.

RESULTS

The full EBM combination was prescribed to 70% of the patients. However, after taking into account the presence of contraindications and clinical factors, the actual adherence to the guidelines was 95%. Patients who received the full EBM combination were younger (58 versus 62 years; p = 0.0 and 3) and had lower rates of chronic kidney disease (11% versus 41%; p < 0.001) and heart failure (9% versus 20%; p = 0.012) when compared to patients who received the partial EBM. Compared to the partial EBM group, the full EBM group was associated with lower MACCE rates (54% versus 37%, p = 0.012). After employing the propensity score technique utilizing the 1:1 nearest neighbor matching method without replacement, the univariate findings were further re-affirmed with those on full EBMs (compared to those on partial EBMs) associated with a significant reduction in the MACCE rate (average treatment effect of -25%; 95% confidence interval: -10--40%; p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The full EBM utilization was significantly high in our setting and in line with international guidelines. The full EBM combination was predominantly prescribed in younger and less comorbid patients and was associated with lower MACCE rates. The findings were further reaffirmed by the propensity score matching method.

Optimal Medical Therapy for Secondary Prevention of Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Retrospective Study from a Tertiary Hospital in Sudan

Background

Five-medication regimen is recommended for patients after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as a secondary prevention strategy at discharge to reduce recurrence and improve mortality.

Objective

This study aimed to assess prescribing of optimal medical therapy (OMT) as five-medication regimens for secondary prevention at discharge after ACS in Sudan.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was performed at a tertiary hospital located in Wad Medani, Sudan, in the period between January and December 2019. Data were collected from patients’ files. OMT was defined as a combination of five medications; aspirin and P2Y12 inhibitors, statins, beta-blockers (BBs), and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) or if a valid contraindication was documented.

Results

Of the 619 patients throughout the study period, 591 were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The median age of patients was 60 years, and 58.9% of patients were male. Diabetes (44.5%) and hypertension (42%) were the most common risk factors. Most patients (58.4%) were diagnosed with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. About 99.7% of patients were on aspirin, 99.5% on statins, 97% on clopidogrel, 96.8% on dual antiplatelet therapy, 70.4% on BBs, and 57.9% on ACEIs/ARBs. OMT for secondary prevention was prescribed to 267 (45.2%) patients with ACS at discharge.

Conclusion

Although prescriptions for all five guideline-recommended medications after ACS were suboptimal, the study showed a positive trend in prescribing most individual medications.

Implementation of clinical audit to improve adherence to guideline-recommended therapy in acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUND

Despite global consensus on the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), implementation of strategies to improve adherence of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remains sub-optimal, especially in developing countries. Thus, we aimed to assess the effect of clinical pharmacist-led clinical audit to improve the compliance of discharge prescriptions in patients admitted with ACS. It is a prospective clinical audit of ACS patients which was carried out for 12 months. The discharge prescriptions were audited by clinical pharmacists for the appropriateness in the usage of statins, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), beta-blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I)/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). A feedback report was presented every month to the cardiologists involved in the patient care, and the trend in the adherence to GDMT was analyzed over 12 months.

RESULTS

The discharge prescriptions of 1072 ACS patients were audited for the justifiable and non-justifiable omissions of mandated drugs. The first-month audit revealed unreasonable omissions of DAPT, statin, ACE-I/ARB, and beta-blockers in 1%, 0%, 14%, and 11% respectively, which reduced to nil by the end of the 11th month of the audit-feedback program. This improvement remained unchanged until the end of the 12th month.

CONCLUSIONS

The study revealed that periodic clinical audit significantly improves adherence to GDMT in patients admitted with ACS.

Evaluation of discharge prescriptions for secondary prevention in patients with acute coronary syndromes in Iraq

Background:

Optimal prescribing of secondary prevention medications after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality. However, it is unknown whether these medications are optimally prescribed at discharge from acute care in Iraq.

Objective:

To evaluate whether patients with ACS received optimal secondary prevention medications: antiplatelets, statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (ACEI/ARBs), and beta-blockers at discharge from a cardiology unit, and to assess whether statins, ACEI/ARBs and beta-blockers were prescribed at target doses based on the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) guidelines.

Methods:

Observational retrospective cross-sectional study of patients with ACS admitted to a hospital in Baghdad and survived to discharge between May 2016 and January 2017. Patient-level data and secondary prevention medications at discharge were extracted from routine medical records. Optimal dosing was defined as ≥75%, moderate dosing as 50–74%, and low dosing as <50% of the target dose.

Results:

45.6% (200/439) of eligible patients were included in the study who were aged 25 to 90 years (mean 57.8 years) with 78.0% (156/200) being male. Of those included, 84.5% had a myocardial infarction and 15.5% unstable angina, and the length of hospital stay ranged from 1 to 29 days (median 4 days). In total, 53.5% of patients were prescribed all five secondary prevention medications at discharge, and after accounting for contraindications, 60.0% were treated according to AHA/ACC guidelines. The prescription rate of dual antiplatelet therapy, statins, ACEI/ARBs and beta-blockers was 92.5%, 94.5%, 69.5% and 87.0% respectively. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus and the prescription of oral nitrates were associated with the prescription of optimal secondary prevention therapy. Although 80.9% of patients were prescribed target doses of antiplatelets and statins, only 12.2% and 9.2% were prescribed target doses of ACEI/ARBs, and beta-blockers respectively.

Conclusions:

Approximately one in two patients received the recommended secondary prevention therapy. However, only a minority of patients were prescribed optimal doses of ACEI/ARBs and beta-blockers, in line with guidance. Quality improvement strategies should be implemented, which may include greater involvement of pharmacists within the cardiology multidisciplinary team.