Key result
Post-PCI NSTEMI survival past 90 days linked to ~26% higher 10-year mortality versus general population.
Why the study?
Whether the similar 10-year mortality observed in 90-day STEMI survivors compared to a matched general population also applies to contemporary patients with NSTEMI remains unclear.
Does first-time NSTEMI treated with PCI increase long-term mortality compared to a matched general population?
Cohort (n=64,487)
Yes
Does first-time NSTEMI treated with PCI increase long-term mortality compared to a matched general population?
Hazard Ratio: 1.26 (95% CI 1.21–1.32)
Absolute Event Rate: 32.3% vs 26.1%
First-time NSTEMI patients who survive 90 days have a substantially higher 10-year mortality risk than the general population, primarily driven by underlying high comorbidity burdens and cardiovascular death.
Excess mortality after NSTEMI PCI, concentrated in high-comorbidity patients, may guide risk stratification; extends STEMI data by showing persistent long-term risk.
BACKGROUND: In ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients, recent evidence showed an almost similar 10-year mortality in 90-day survivors when compared with a matched general population. Whether this finding also applies to contemporary patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to examine excess mortality in first-time NSTEMI patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared with a matched general population during the landmark periods of 0 to 30 days, 31 to 90 days, and 91 days to 10 years. METHODS: First-time NSTEMI patients treated with PCI were identified in the Western Denmark Heart Registry from 2010 to 2022. Mortality was compared with a general population cohort matched by age, sex, and calendar year. RESULTS: The study included 10,748 first-time NSTEMI patients treated with PCI and 53,739 matched individuals. The median follow-up was 6.0 (Q1-Q3: 3.4-9.2) years. NSTEMI patients had higher mortality in all landmark periods than the general population: 1.9% (95% CI: 1.6-2.2) excess mortality from 0 to 30 days (HR: 8.90; 95% CI: 7.40-10.68), 0.5% (95% CI: 0.3-0.7) from 31 to 90 days (HR: 2.54; 95% CI: 2.06-3.15), and 6.1% (95% CI: 4.8-7.5) from 91 days to 10 years (HR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.21-1.32). Notably, this excess risk was almost exclusively confined to patients with a high comorbidity burden (excess mortality 22.0%; 95% CI: 19.1-24.9). CONCLUSIONS: Among first-time NSTEMI patients treated with PCI, 90-day survivors had a substantially higher 10-year excess mortality than the matched general population. This excess mortality was primarily driven by NSTEMI patients with a high baseline comorbidity burden.
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Lauridsen et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) (n=64,487). First-time NSTEMI treated with PCI vs. Age, sex, and calendar-year matched general population was evaluated on All-cause mortality from 91 days to 10 years (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.21-1.32). First-time NSTEMI patients surviving 90 days after PCI had a 6.1% higher 10-year mortality compared to a matched general population (HR 1.26), primarily driven by those with high comorbidity burden.
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