Comparative Characteristics of Patients with Cerebral Stroke and Myocardial Infarction in Outpatient Practice: Structure of Comorbidity, Risk Factors, Drug Treatment and Outcomes
Authors: Vorobyev A. N. , Pereverzeva K. G. , Loukianov M. M. , Yakushin S. S. , Martsevich S. Yu. , Okshina E. Yu. , Drapkina O. M. 
Published: November 2020

Aim. To conduct a comparative analysis of clinical and anamnestic characteristics, risk factors, pharmacotherapy and outcomes in patients with previous stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) in outpatient practice based on data from prospective outpatient registries.

Material and methods. On the basis of three outpatient clinics in Ryazan, based on the results of treatment in 2012-2013, an outpatient registry of patients who had stroke of any remoteness (REGION-AR) and an outpatient registry of patients who had previous myocardial infarction (REGATA) were created, which included, respectively, 511 patients (212 men, 41.5%) and 481 patients (247 men, 51.4%). Clinical and anamnestic characteristics, risk factors, prescribed pharmacotherapy, and its compliance with clinical guidelines were evaluated.

Results. Most of the patients in the REGION-AR and REGATA registries were diagnosed with arterial hypertension (AH; 97.1% and 98.5%), coronary heart disease (СHD; 75.1% and 100%), chronic heart failure (CHF; 74.0% and 94.8%), and the proportion of atrial fibrillation (AF) cases were 20.9% and 23.3%, respectively. The share of smokers was significantly higher (23.4% vs 8.9%; p<0.0001) in the REGATA registry, and the share of people with high blood pressure at the inclusion visit (82.6% vs 67.6 %; p<0.0001) and hypercholesterolemia (63.8% vs 45.8%; p<0.0001) was higher in the REGION-AR registry. In both registries, there was a generally insufficient frequency of proper medication prescriptions, while patients in the REGION registry were statistically significantly less likely to receive mandatory prescriptions in general (44.4% vs 58.2%, p<0.0001), including antihypertensive therapy for hypertension, as well as angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in CHF, beta-blockers in CHF and MI history, statins in CHD, antiplatelet agents in CHD without AF. Over 3 years of follow-up, the degree of compliance of drug prescriptions with clinical recommendations increased both in the REGION-AR registry (from 44.4% to 58.2%) and in the REGATA registry (from 58.2% to 62.9%). For 36 months of prospective observation in the REGION-AR registry, as compared to the REGATA registry, there was a higher mortality rate (22.1% vs 17.0%; p=0.04), moreover the mortality rate among men was higher (22.2% vs 14.2%; p=0.03), and among women it did not differ significantly (22.1% and 20.0%; p=0.56).

Conclusion. Outpatient registries of patients who survived after acute cerebrovascular accident and myocardial infarction were comparable in terms of the average age of patients, however, women prevailed in the REGION-AR study, and men - in the REGATA registry. In the registry of patients who had myocardial infarction, СHD, CHF, respiratory and digestive system diseases, chronic kidney disease, obesity were more often diagnosed, less often – heart defects and oncological diseases. This category of patients was more often prescribed ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, statins, antiplatelet agents. The proportion of compliance of prescriptions with clinical guidelines was higher in the registry of patients who underwent MI both at the stage of inclusion and during subsequent prospective observation. In both registries, an improvement in the quality of drug therapy was noted after 3 years of follow-up. Mortality from all causes over 3 years of follow-up was significantly higher in the registry of post-stroke patients compared to the registry of those with MI, and this was due to the higher mortality in men (1.6 times), but among women in the compared studies the death rate did not differ significantly.