August 30th, 2010
4-Year Findings from the REACH Registry
Larry Husten, PHD
“Not all atherothrombosis is equal.” That’s the message from the latest findings of the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) registry of more than 45,000 patients with “various manifestations” of atherothrombosis. According to the REACH investigators, “easily demarcated subgroups of atherothrombotic patients had widely varying risks [for future ischemic events], ranging from 7% in nondiabetic patients with other risk factors for atherothrombosis to 25% in patients with polyvascular disease and prior ischemic events.”
The findings were presented by Deepak Bhatt at the ESC in Stockholm and published simultaneously in JAMA. Other key findings include:
- People with prior ischemic events were at higher risk than people with stable CAD but no history of ischemia, while people with risk factors alone had the lowest risk.
- An ischemic event within the past year raised risk more than a remote event did.
- Diabetes substantially increased risk across all categories of patients.
- Polyvascular disease was even stronger than diabetes in predicting risk in people with established atherothrombosis.
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