Early and six-month outcome in patients with angina pectoris early after acute myocardial infarction (the GISSI-3 APPI [angina precoce post-infarto] study).

There is conflicting evidence whether or not early postinfarction angina implies an unfavorable prognosis. This prospective study assessed the significance and natural history of early angina in a broad population of patients conservatively managed after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and enrolled in the third Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nel Infarto Miocardico (GISSI-3) trial. Out of 2,363 consecutive patients (age 63 +/- 11; first AMI in 86%; thrombolysis in 74%) admitted in 31 centers lacking on-site revascularization facilities, early angina associated with transient electrocardiographic (ECG) changes was documented in 332 (14%). At multivariate analysis, preinfarction angina, age > or = 70 years, female gender, and history of infarct were significant predictors of early angina. Though the in-hospital course was free from major cardiac events in 78% of patients after the first anginal episode, reinfarction was more common after early angina (7% vs 2% in patients without, RR 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9 to 5.6; p <0.001), and death occurred in 7% of patients with early angina (vs 5% of patients without, RR 1.4, CI 0.9 to 2.4, p = NS). No demographic or clinical characteristics identified patients who suffered nonfatal reinfarction after angina, and neither the ECG location (infarct zone or remote) nor patterns of ECG changes during angina proved significant predictors of in-hospital reinfarction or death. Early angina emerged as the sole independent predictor of 6-month cumulative reinfarction (12% vs 5% of patients without, RR 2.9, CI 2.0 to 4.4; p <0.0001) and an independent predictor of death (13% vs 7% of patients without early angina, RR 2.3, CI 1.6 to 3.3; p <0.0001). Early postinfarction angina is a powerful prognostic marker. Patients with early postinfarction angina had an unfavourable in-hospital outcome, but the prospective identification of patients at greater risk of major events after angina remains elusive. Although in-hospital stabilization was achieved by medical treatment in the majority of patients with early angina, their increased 6-month risk of reinfarction and death suggests that a more aggressive management is warranted.