Importance: Despite advances in cardiac care, patients remain at a high risk of death and the development of heart failure (HF) following myocardial infarction (MI). These risks are highest in patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) or signs of HF immediately after MI. Drugs to mitigate these risks have been identified through the systematic evaluation of therapies with proven efficacy in patients with HF and reduced EF (HFrEF).
Observations: Although landmark studies in patients with HFrEF consistently exclude patients with recent MI, dedicated post-MI trials of these drugs have led to multiple therapies with proven benefit in these patients. However, not all therapies with proven efficacy in patients with chronic HF have been shown to provide benefit in the post-MI population, as recently evidenced by the discrepant results between chronic HF and post-MI trials of sacubitril-valsartan. Similarly, multiple trials of early and aggressive use of therapies effective in chronic heart failure immediately post-MI failed to demonstrate benefit or were associated with harm, emphasizing the vulnerability of the post-MI population.
Conclusions and relevance: Trials of patients at high risk of HF following MI have emphasized the differences between the post-MI and HFrEF populations and the necessity for dedicated trials in the post-MI population. This review summarizes trials studying the use of these therapies for at-risk patients following MI from therapies used in patients with HFrEF and exploring new potential therapies for this high-risk population.