Colchicine use in those having a percutaneous coronary intervention significantly reduces major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)
Colchicine use in those with coronary artery disease and who undergo a percutaneous intervention, leads to a significantly reduced incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) according to a meta-analysis by a team from the University of Oxford, UK.
Coronary artery disease is characterised by atherosclerotic plaque accumulation in the epicardial arteries and is managed with a wide range of interventions and which include lifestyle modification, pharmacological therapies and invasive interventions. One particular intervention is percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), defined as a non-surgical, invasive procedure which seeks to relieve the narrowing or occlusion of the coronary artery and improve blood supply to the ischaemic tissue.
The notion that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease was established many years ago and during PCI, damage to the endothelial layer after stent implantation can also lead to a further inflammatory response. Moreover, the presence of residual inflammation can increase the risk of subsequent complications such as a myocardial infarction therefore highlighting the importance of minimising inflammation to improve patient outcomes.
Colchicine use is an example of a low cost anti-inflammatory agent and there is evidence that they drug has beneficial effects as a secondary preventative measure, especially after a myocardial infarction. Nevertheless, the value of colchicine use as an adjunctive intervention to PCI to prevent cardiovascular events remains unclear and was the objective of the current analysis.
For the present study, the team undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis for studies that compared the efficacy of colchicine use to either no use or placebo in patients undergoing PCI and which reported on MACE. The primary outcome measures were the MACE and which included outcomes including in-stent restenosis (ISR), repeat vessel revascularisation, stent thrombosis, stroke and all cause mortality.
Findings
A total of 7 trials including 6660 participants with a mean age of 60.9 years (3347 assigned to colchicine use) and a follow-up time ranging from 3 days to 22.6 months were analysed.
The incidence of MACE was 7.08% in those assigned to colchicine use and 9.15% in the control arm, leading to a significant reduction in MACE (risk ratio, RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.61 – 0.87, p = 0.0003) and with little evidence of heterogeneity across the analysis.
Use of colchicine was associated with a significant reduction in stent thrombosis (RR = 0.50), repeat vessel revascularisation (RR = 0.47) and stroke (RR = 0.50). However, there was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (RR = 1.12, 95% CI 0.49 – 2.58, p = 0.79).
The authors calculated the number needed to treat with colchicine to prevent one episode of MACE to be 41. They concluded that colchicine use significantly reduced the risk of MACE in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing PCI and called for future trials to further evaluate the value of colchicine with different types of stents and alternative dosing regimes.
Citation
Aw KL et al. Colchicine for symptomatic coronary artery disease after percutaneous coronary intervention Open Heart 2022
