Clinical course of acute myocardial infarction in the hypertensive patient in Eastern Spain: the PRIMVAC registry.

Objective: The study's objective was to analyze the acute complications and prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in hypertensive patients in Spain.

Method: Complications and early mortality were recorded among the patients with AMI admitted to the coronary care units of the 17 hospitals in the Valencia Community (Spain) between 1995 and 2000.

Results: A total of 12.071 patients were registered, of whom 46% were hypertensive (5.550 cases). Atrial fibrillation was more frequent in the hypertensive group, whereas ventricular fibrillation was more common among normotensive patients. We found higher mortality rates in the hypertensive group (14.4% vs 12.4%; P<.001). However, after multivariate adjustment, hypertension was not independently associated with mortality (odds ratio: .95; P=.46), and remained independently associated with a lower risk of primary ventricular fibrillation (odds ratio: .83; P<.05).

Conclusion: Hypertensive patients do not present comparatively greater mortality during AMI, although primary ventricular fibrillation is less common in such subjects.