Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: An Italian Single-Center Study

Abstract

We observed very high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among subjects with myocardial infarction in all seasons of enrollment. However, it was lower in the summer when sun exposure is higher. The exposure to sunlight may be a cost-saving therapeutic strategy for the management of vitamin D deficiency.

“Summer Shift”: A Potential Effect of Sunshine on the Time Onset of ST‐Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction

“…Both the evidence of the summer shift in the temperate climate zone and, in the absence of temperate seasons, the annual correlation of this shift with the sunshine duration at the equator, are important findings that can be of relevance for understanding the etiopathogenesis of STEMI onset. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with acute myocardial infarction has been recently discovered, and its synthesis can affect many factors that participate in the etiogenesis of atherothrombotic coronary occlusion 29, 30. However, although in our epidemiological study we show that the summer shift correlates with the levels of vitamin D, this result should be taken with some caution.…”

Role of Vitamin D in Cardiovascular Diseases

“…Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with increased risk of CVD such as coronary artery disease (CAD) [5], myocardial infarction (MI) [6–7], hypertrophy [8], cardiomyopathy [9–10], fibrosis [11–12], heart failure (HF) [13–14]. In addition, deficiency of vitamin D has been found in arterial diseases, including aneurysm [15–16], peripheral arterial disease (PAD) [17–19], arterial calcification [20], hypertension (HTN) [21–22] and atherosclerosis [23] (Figures 2 and 3).…”

Vitamin D: Way More Important in Critical Care Than We May Have Recognized

“…In addition to single reports suggesting that higher vitamin D levels confer mortality benefits, [39][40][41]43,47,66,67 a number of randomized controlled trial meta-analyses demonstrate the consistency of the inverse relationship between vitamin D level and mortality from any cause.…”

“…Several important associations exist between VDD and acute myocardial infarction (AMI): VDD is highly prevalent in AMI [37][38][39][40][41][42][43] ; risk of AMI is significantly higher and inversely proportional to the degree of VDD 37 ; and AMI patients with VDD fare significantly worse with greater morbidity, postinfarction complications, and higher mortality. [39][40][41]43 One study found rates of major cardiovascular events were 50% higher with vitamin D insufficiency and 80% higher with VDD.…”

“…[39][40][41]43 One study found rates of major cardiovascular events were 50% higher with vitamin D insufficiency and 80% higher with VDD. 44 At a 10-year follow-up of more than 18 000 men, those with low vitamin D levels had twice the risk of AMI as those with adequate vitamin D. 45 A larger meta-analysis confirmed that VDD constitutes a unique risk factor for AMI and CVD.…”