Diabetes does not attenuate the benefit of physiology-guided complete revascularization in older patients with myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND

In patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and multivessel disease, diabetes mellitus is associated with more diffuse coronary atherosclerosis and worse clinical outcomes, often influencing revascularization decisions. The Functional Assessment in Elderly MI Patients with Multivessel Disease (FIRE) trial demonstrated the superiority of physiology-guided complete revascularization in older patients with MI. Whether this benefit is preserved in patients with diabetes remains uncertain.

METHODS

In FIRE, 1445 patients aged ≥ 75 years with MI and multivessel disease were randomized to culprit-only or physiology-guided complete revascularization. In this prespecified analysis, outcomes were assessed according to diabetes status. The primary endpoint was a composite of death, MI, stroke, or revascularization at 3 years. The key secondary endpoint was cardiovascular death or MI. The safety endpoint included contrast-associated acute kidney injury, stroke, or Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 3–5 bleeding.

RESULTS

Among 1445 patients, 463 (32%) had diabetes. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, diabetes was independently associated with a higher risk of the primary endpoint (hazard ratio [HR] 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02–1.56) and heart failure (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.01–1.83) at 3 years. Physiology-guided complete revascularization reduced the primary outcome in both patients with diabetes (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50–0.97) and without diabetes (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.58–0.97), with no evidence of effect modification by diabetes status (p for interaction = 0.712). Similar consistency was observed for the key secondary and safety endpoints.

CONCLUSIONS

In older patients with MI and multivessel disease, physiology-guided complete revascularization reduces ischemic events irrespective of diabetes status, supporting its use in elderly diabetic patients. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03772743.