Escitalopram reduces the risk of MACE in depressed patients with ACS

(HealthDay) -For patients with depression as a result of recent coronary syndrome (SCA) , escitalopram reduces the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) compared with placebo. a study published in the July 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association .

Jae-Min Kim, MD, Ph.D., of Chonnam National University Medical School in Gwangju, South Korea, and colleagues randomized 300 patients with recent ACS and depression to receive escitalopram in flexible doses of 5, 10, 15, or 20 mg / d or a matched placebo (149 and 151 patients, respectively) for 24 weeks. Patients were followed for a median of 8.1 years.

The researchers found that 40.9 and 53.6% of patients receiving respectively escitalopram and placebo had a MACE score (hazard ratio [HR] 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] ] 0.49 to 0.96, P = 0.03). Comparing the individual MACE results between the escitalopram and placebo groups, the incidences were 20.8 versus 24.5% for all-cause mortality (HR, 0.82, 95% CI, 0.51-1.33, P = 0.43); 10.7 vs. 13.2% for cardiac death (HR, 0.79, 95% CI, 0.41 to 1.52, P = 0.48); 8.7 vs. 15.2 percent for myocardial infarction (HR, 0.54, 95% CI, 0.27 to 0.96, P = 0.04); and 12.8 versus 19.9 percent for percutaneous coronary intervention (HR, 0.58, 95 percent CI, 0.33 to 1.04, P = 0.07).

"Further research is needed to evaluate the generalizability of these findings," the authors write. ] An author has revealed financial links with the pharmaceutical industry.

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