Myocardial infarction (MI), also known as heart attack, is a condition that occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart. Colchicine is a potent inflammatory medication routinely used for the treatment of pericarditis and familial Mediterranean fever. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose colchicine after myocardial infarction (MI).
This double-blind, randomized trial included a total of 4,747 patients within 30 days after an MI. The patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either low-dose colchicine (0.5 mg once daily, n=2,366) or placebo (n=2,379). The primary outcome of the study was a composite of death from cardiovascular events, MI, stroke, cardiac arrest, or urgent hospitalization for coronary revascularization.
During a median follow-up of 22.6 months, the primary endpoint occurred in 5.5% of patients in the colchicine group, as compared with 7.1% of patients in the placebo group. The hazard ratios for the primary endpoints were as follows: 0.84 for death from cardiovascular causes, 0.83 for resuscitated cardiac arrest, 0.91 for MI, and 0.26 for urgent hospitalization for coronary revascularization.
The research concluded that low-dose colchicine in patients with MI led to a reduced risk of ischemic cardiovascular events.
Ref: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1912388
