“The Solvay Pharmaceutical Conferences: where industry meets academia in a search for novel therapies”

Therapy for Sudden Death Still Awaited

During the last decades progress has been made in the treatment of patients who survived myocardial infarction. The implementation of coronary care units and evolution of public education to encourage rapid response, development of catheter-based revascularization techniques, greater emphasis on cardiac rehabilitation, and improved therapy have contributed to improvement of prognosis for patients with myocardial infarction. The introduction of aspirin, thrombolytics, ß-blockers, ACE-inhibitors and statins led to reduction in both short-term and immediate mortality rates among patients suffering from myocardial infarction. Nevertheless, patients who survive an acute myocardial infarction are at high risk, with life expectancy half that of their peers who have not experienced similar events, and with increased risk for subsequent cardiovascular events and death. The risk of sudden death increases with severity of systolic dysfunction after myocardial infarction. Sudden death has proved to be more difficult to treat than coronary disease.

In recent years, it has become clear that in addition to risk factors such as overweight, lack of exercise, smoking, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, psychosocial factors play a key role for prognosis in patients with myocardial infarction. Depression, anxiety, perceived social support and social desirability may have an effect on mortality and morbidity in such patients. Therefore, there is high medical need for drugs which lower the incidence of sudden death and have an effect on other risk factors such as depression.

A pharmaceutical preparation of highly purified and concentrated Ω-3 polyunsaturated acids, OMACOR^®, may represent such a drug. It lowers the incidence of sudden death in patients with myocardial infarction and decreases depression.

This volume summarizes lectures delivered during the symposium entitled “Effect of Ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on different risk factors in patients with cardiovascular disease” presented during the European Cardiology Society Congress in Stockholm (Sweden) in 2005. In addition, aspects of prevention of cardiovascular disease, risk factors, and pharmacokinetics of Ω-3 fatty acids ethyl esters have been considered.

W. Cautreels, C. Steinborn, L. Turski