MD; for the OMEGA Study GroupBackground-There is no randomized, double-blind trial testing the prognostic effect of highly purified omega-3 fatty acids in addition to current guideline-adjusted treatment of acute myocardial infarction. Methods and Results-OMEGA is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter trial testing the effects of omega-3-acid ethyl esters-90 (1 g/d for 1 year) on the rate of sudden cardiac death in survivors of acute myocardial infarction, if given in addition to current guideline-adjusted treatment. Secondary end points were total mortality and nonfatal clinical events. Patients (nϭ3851; female, 25.6%; mean age, 64.0 years) were randomized in 104 German centers 3 to 14 days after acute myocardial infarction from October 2003 until June 2007. Acute coronary angiography was performed in 93.8% and acute percutaneous coronary intervention in 77.8% of all patients. During a follow-up of 365 days, the event rates were (omega and control groups) as follows: sudden cardiac death, 1.5% and 1.5% (Pϭ0.84); total mortality, 4.6% and 3.7% (Pϭ0.18); major adverse cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events, 10.4% and 8.8% (Pϭ0.1); and revascularization in survivors, 27.6% and 29.1% (Pϭ0.34). Conclusions-Guideline-adjusted treatment of acute myocardial infarction results in a low rate of sudden cardiac death and other clinical events within 1 year of follow-up, which could not be shown to be further reduced by the application of omega-3 fatty acids. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

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Aims Acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock is associated with an exceedingly high mortality, even if patients are treated with early reperfusion therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate predictors of in-hospital mortality of a large cohort of consecutive patients with cardiogenic shock treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and results Between July 1994 and March 2001 all interventions performed in 80 centres in Germany were prospectively entered into the primary PCI registry of the ALKK. A total of 9422 procedures were registered, of these 1333 (14.2%) were performed in patients with cardiogenic shock. Total in-hospital mortality was 46.1% and was dependent on TIMI flow grade after PCI, with mortality rates of 78.2%, 66.1% and 37.4% in patients with TIMI 0/1, TIMI 2 and TIMI 3 flow, respectively. In a multivariate analysis left main disease, TIMI <3 flow after PCI, older age, three-vessel disease and longer time-intervals between symptom onset and PCI were significant independent predictors of mortality. The relative number of PCIs performed in patients with cardiogenic shock did not change significantly from 1995-2000. There was a significant decrease in mortality over the years (P for trend 0.02). Conclusions In-hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock remains high, even with early interventional therapy. However, our data demonstrate that the PCI in these high-risk patients is feasible in a wide spectrum of community hospitals with acceptable success rates. Our results seen in connection with the results of the randomized SHOCK study advocate an early invasive approach in younger patients with cardiogenic shock, while the best strategy in elderly patients is still a matter of debate.

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In-hospital AMI occurred in 6.8% of patients. Time to intervention was shorter; however, the use of reperfusion therapy for in-hospital AMI was not different from that for prehospital AMI. In particular, primary angioplasty seems to be underused in these patients. This, as well as the selection of patients, may result in the high hospital mortality rate of 27.3%.

This analysis of contemporary PCI in clinical practice shows a small but significant volume-outcome relation for in-hospital mortality. However, this relation was only apparent in high-risk subgroups, such as patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction.

In clinical practice, adjunctive therapy with clopidogrel, in addition to aspirin, in survivors after STEMI is associated with a reduction in 1-year mortality in patients treated with early reperfusion therapy.