Acute myocardial infarction increased in people with epilepsy between 2008 and 2017, finds study

The prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in people with epilepsy increased from 2008 to 2017, according to a study published online Aug. 4 in Frontiers in Neurology.

Zhemin Pan, from Tongji University School of Medicine in Shanghai, and colleagues analyzed temporal trends in prevalence, adverse clinical outcomes, and risk factors for AMI in patients with epilepsy. The analysis included data from 8.4 million adult inpatients with an epilepsy diagnosis (2008 through 2017).

The researchers found that comorbid AMI occurred in 2.15% of the study population. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of AMI diagnosis in people with epilepsy from 1,911.7 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 2008 to 2,529.5 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 2017.

Additionally, people with epilepsy and AMI had significantly higher inpatient mortality versus those without AMI (odds ratio [OR], 4.61). In people with epilepsy, factors significantly associated with AMI included age (75 years and older versus 18 to 44 years old: OR, 3.54), atherosclerosis (OR, 4.44), conduction disorders (OR, 2.21), cardiomyopathy (OR, 2.11), coagulopathy (OR, 1.52), dyslipidemia (OR, 1.26), peptic ulcer disease (OR, 1.23), chronic kidney disease (OR, 1.23), smoking (OR, 1.20), and weight loss (OR, 1.20).

“Mortality rates were high among this population, highlighting the need for comprehensive attention to prophylaxis for risk factors and early diagnosis of AMI in people with epilepsy by physicians,” the authors write.

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