By Marla Paul

Despite many medicines and other treatments for patients with vascular disease, a large international study shows these patients have a surprisingly high rate of recurring events such as strokes, heart attacks, and hospitalizations as well as mortality, says a statement released by Northwestern University, Chicago.

Also unexpected: patients in North America (including the United States) experienced an above-average rate of these events, says the statement. Patients in Eastern Europe had the highest rate, and those in Australia and Japan had the lowest.

The results from the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) Registry, presented by a researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined data for 32,247 patients 1 and 3 years after they enrolled in the registry. Patients who had symptomatic vascular disease had a 14.4% rate at 1 year and 28.4% rate at 3 years of having a heart attack, stroke, rehospitalization for another type of vascular event, or vascular death. Patients with vascular disease in more than one location of the body had the highest event rate at 40.5% at 3 years.

When projected over the global population who would mirror the patients in REACH, this represents millions of serious vascular events occurring every few years, many of which could be prevented.

Vascular disease affects tens of millions of people in the United States. and hundreds of millions globally, said Mark J. Alberts, MD, professor of neurology at the Feinberg School and director of the stroke program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in the statement.

Many of the patients in the REACH study were taking the appropriate medications for their vascular disease. Alberts was quoted in the statement as saying that that does not mean the medications worked or were being adhered to properly. Perhaps they need more or different medications, he added.

He said this study shows the need for more patients to adopt healthier lifestyles with increased exercise, a healthy diet, and smoking cessation. These are inexpensive approaches to reducing and preventing the occurrence of vascular event, said the statement.

Recurring vascular events cost billions of dollars annually in the United States The cost of heart attacks, angina, or related conditions in the United States is $150 billion, of which 60% is related to hospitalization.

Between 19% and 33% of patients were rehospitalized for a vascular event other than a recurrent stroke, heart attack, or vascular death. Since hospitalization is a major driving factor in health care costs, any steps to reduce the rate of hospitalization would have a positive impact on reducing health care expenses, says the statement.

The REACH Registry is funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb, sanofi-aventis and the Waksman Foundation in Japan. The REACH registry is endorsed by the World Heart Federation. Alberts has received research grants, honoraria, and consulting fees from sanofi-aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

[Source: Northwestern University]