Reevaluate the effect of ACEI/ARB therapy at discharge on patients with STEMI in the contemporary reperfusion era.

Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) had beneficial effects on clinical outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the pre-reperfusion or thrombolytic era. It is unknown if the benefits persist in the contemporary reperfusion era.

Objectives: We sought to determine if ACEI/ARB improves clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI in the contemporary reperfusion era according to the reperfusion strategy.

Methods: 12596 patients were analyzed from the prospective, nationwide, multicenter China Acute Myocardial Infarction (CAMI) Registry. These patients were classified into the no reperfusion group (n=6004) and the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) group (n=6592). Two-year all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were compared.

Results: In the no reperfusion group, ACEI/ARB therapy at discharge may reduce the incidences of 30-day MACCE (4.7% vs 7.4%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53-0.85; P<0.001), stroke (0.5% vs 1.1%; adjusted HR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.21-0.83; P=0.01), and revascularization (2.1% vs 3.1%; adjusted HR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.46-0.94; P=0.02) compared to patients not treated with ACEI/ARB. Patients treated with ACEI/ARB also showed a lower rate of two-year MACCE (17.0% versus 19.1%; adjusted HR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.76-0.99; P=0.04). No differences were observed in the remaining outcomes. In the primary PCI group, no differences were observed for all examined outcomes before and after multivariate adjustments.

Conclusions: Treatment with ACEI/ARB at discharge may reduce cardiovascular events in STEMI patients not receiving reperfusion, while no significant benefits were observed in those receiving primary PCI.