Heart attack death risk in France down

PARIS, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The risk of dying in a hospital in France after a heart attack has decreased by about 50 percent in the past 10 years, researchers say.

The French registry of Acute ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction is a nationwide survey of patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction in France at the end of 2005 during a one-month period.

Of a population of 3,670 patients included in the registry, 3,262 survived the initial hospitalization and had a complete prescription at discharge available. Among them, 49 percent received optimal treatment.

Patients included will be followed for a period of 10 years after the initial heart attack. At three years, fewer than 5 percent of the patients have been lost to follow-up, researchers say.

The study finds the three-year survival was 88 percent in optimally treated patients, compared with 77.5 percent in those who did not receive all recommended medications. After taking into account the initial profile of the patients and the severity of the heart attack, there was an 18 percent reduction in the risk of dying in patients receiving optimal medical therapy, the researchers say.

The findings, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, suggest there is still room for improvement in patients who receive the best possible medical treatment -- of these patients, 12 percent still die during the three years following the initial heart attack.