[Verapamil therapy improves the prognosis after acute myocardial infarction. A review over the Danish studies of verapamil therapy during and after acute myocardial infarction]

Abstract

The effect of verapamil therapy in a dosage of 120 thrice daily on the mortality and re-infarction from the time of admission and for the subsequent six months was investigated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicentre investigation (The Danish Verapamil Infarction Trial (DAVIT I)). Seven hundred and seventeen patients were treated with verapamil and 719 with placebo. The mortalities after six months were 12.8% in the verapamil group and 13.9% in the placebo group (NS) and re-infarction occurred in 7.0% and 8.3%, respectively (NS). The effect of verapamil on the mortality and major events, i.e. death or the first re-infarction from the second week after an acute myocardial infarction was investigated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicentre investigation (DAVIT II) in which 878 patients commenced treatment with verapamil in a dosage of 360 mg daily and 897 patients received a placebo. This treatment was continued for up to 18 months, on an average for 16 months. Ninety-five patients died and 146 major events were registered in the verapamil group while 119 died and 180 major events occurred in the placebo group. The 18 months mortality rates were 11.1 and 13.8% (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% confidence limits 0.63-1.05, p = 0.11) and the major event rates were 18.0 and 21.6% (0.80, 0.64-0.99, p = 0.03) in the verapamil and placebo groups, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)