( ine said. Morphine on the other hand...)Morphine for Chest Pain Increases Death Risk

"Morphine has the well-known and potentially harmful side effects of depressing respiration, reducing blood pressure and slowing heart rate," he continued. "These side effects could explain the worse outcomes in patients whose heart function has already been compromised by disease."

For their analysis, the researchers consulted the nationwide quality improvement initiative named CRUSADE (Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients Suppress Adverse Outcomes with Early Implementation of the American College of Cardiology and AHA Guidelines) The registry continually collects data from more than 400 hospitals on outcomes and on the use of proven drugs and procedures used to restore blood flow to the heart.

From this registry, the researchers identified 57,039 high-risk patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (non-STEMI), a categorization of heart attack based on electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. These patients typically arrive at emergency rooms with chest pain, but often will not have telltale signs of a heart attack on the initial ECG. They might be diagnosed with a heart attack only when the results of the blood tests are reported a few hours later.

The researchers found that patients who were given morphine had 48 percent higher risk of dying and 34 percent higher risk of suffering another heart attack while in the hospital.

"This increase in mortality was present in every subgroup of patients we studied," Meine said. "What we found interesting was that patients given morphine were more likely to receive evidence-based medicine, were more likely to be treated by a cardiologist and were more likely to receive an invasive cardiac procedure."

Meine recommended that physicians with hospitalized heart attack patients sho
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Source:DukeHealth