Hyperuricemia is associated with short-term outcomes in elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction

Although a lot of studies have  shown serum uric acid (SUA) could be a marker of adverse prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction, the role of SUA as a risk factor for myocardial infarction is controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between hyperuricemia and short-term outcomes of elderly patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Six hundred and seventy-three elderly patients (≥ 60 years) were divided into high-SUA-level group (group H: N = 168) and low-SUA-level group (group L: N = 505) according to the SUA levels on admission. The following primary end points were evaluated within 30 days of AMI. The adverse events included postoperative angina pectoris, heart failure (Killip class ≥ II), and death. The comparisons were made between two groups in clinical and angiographic characteristics.

The incidences of postoperative angina pectoris, heart failure, and the total adverse cardiovascular events were significantly higher in group H than in group L. But the incidence of death was similar between groups. In group H, heart rate (HR), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, SUA, homocysteine (HCY), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and creatine kinase myocardial band (CKMB) peak were clearly higher compared with those in group L. The results of logistic regression showed that the incidence of 30-day adverse events was closely related to TG, HCY and SUA.

An elevated SUA level may be related to the short-term outcomes and seems to be an independent predictor of 30-day cardiovascular events in elderly patients with STEMI.