Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reduce mortality and remodeling after myocardial infarction in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.
Methods: Perindopril and Remodeling in Elderly With Acute Myocardial Infarction (PREAMI), a double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, multicenter, placebo-controlled study, determined whether similar benefits occur in elderly postinfarction patients with preserved left ventricular function. A total of 1252 patients 65 years or older with a left ventricular ejection fraction of 40% or higher and recent acute myocardial infarction were randomized to receive perindopril erbumine or placebo (8 mg/d) for 12 months. The combined primary end point was death, hospitalization for heart failure, or left ventricular remodeling. Secondary end points included cardiovascular death, hospitalization for reinfarction or angina, and revascularization.
Results: The primary end point occurred in 181 patients (35%) taking perindopril and 290 patients (57%) taking placebo, with a significant absolute risk reduction of 0.22 (95% confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.28; P<.001). A total of 126 patients (28%) and 226 patients (51%) in the perindopril and placebo groups, respectively, experienced remodeling. The mean increase in left ventricle end-diastolic volume was 0.7 mL with perindopril compared with 4.0 mL with placebo (P<.001). In the perindopril group, 40 deaths (6%) and 22 hospitalizations (4%) for heart failure occurred, whereas 37 deaths (6%) and 30 hospitalizations (5%) occurred in the placebo group. Treatment did not affect death, whereas the hospitalization rate for heart failure was slightly reduced (absolute risk reduction, 0.01; 95% confidence interval, -0.01 to 0.02). No treatment effect on other secondary end points was detected.
Conclusion: We found that 1-year treatment with 8 mg/d of perindopril reduces progressive left ventricular remodeling that can occur even in the presence of small infarct size, but it was not associated with better clinical outcomes.