Background:
Limited prospectively collected data are available on the total outcomes, cost estimates, and quality of life associated with treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) through 1 year in a nonclinical‐trial setting, or on the impact of new clinical events by 1 year on resource utilization and costs.
Methods:
The Antiplatelet Therapy Observational Registry (APTOR) 12‐month study followed 1,335 concurrently recruited ACS patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and treated with antiplatelet therapy from France, Spain, and the United Kingdom in a “real world” clinical setting. Data were collected on clinical events, resource utilization, quality of life, and cost estimates through 1‐year follow‐up.
Results:
By 1 year, 14.4% (95% CI 12.7–16.4%) of patients experienced a clinical event of death, MI, stroke, unstable angina, urgent target vessel revascularization, or acute heart failure. Costs by 1 year were higher among those who had a new clinical event (£8,988, 95% CI £7,848, £10,395) as compared with those with no events (£5,809, 95% CI £5,486, £6,161). This increased cost was due to higher postdischarge resource use costs. Using the EQ‐5D assessment at 1 year, quality of life was directionally lower in those patients who had experienced a new clinical event.
Conclusions:
The risk of experiencing a new clinical event during the year following an ACS, which was treated with PCI, remains high among European patients, with one‐seventh of patients having a new event. These additional clinical outcomes reduce quality of life and increase health care expenditures, expanding the already high cost of treatment for ACS. (J Interven Cardiol 2012;25:19–27)
