Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Introduction/Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) stands as a major global cause of mortality. Various intervention strategies, such as pre-hospital care, reperfusion therapies, pharmacological interventions, dietary modifications, and exercise therapies, have been researched to improve patient prognosis.
Research Question: There remains a lack of evidence regarding the impact of early nutritionist-led dietary guidance on the prognosis of AMI patients.
Aim: This study aimed to elucidate whether nutritional guidance by nutritionists who have national qualifications would improve the mortality and the primary composite endpoint (including acute decompensated heart failure, stroke, and acute coronary syndrome) of patients following an acute myocardial infarction.
Methods/Approach: A retrospective cohort study enrolling 409 AMI patients who underwent emergency percutaneous coronary interventions between September 1, 2015, and October 31, 2023. Nutritionists guided 223 patients (54.5%) during hospitalization in this study. The nutritional guidance used in our study was also based on the definition of adequate caloric intake of 25–30 kcal per ideal body weight (kg). Under an appropriate total energy intake, a fat energy ratio of 20–25% and a carbohydrate energy ratio of 50–60% are recommended, with protein and lipid restrictions depending on the disease state.
Results/Data: During a median follow-up of 39 months, 24 cases of all-cause mortality (5.9%) and 6 cases of cardiovascular mortality (1.5%) were recorded. Kaplan–Meier curves demonstrated significantly higher incidence rates of death and primary composite endpoints among patients without nutritional guidance during hospitalization. The multivariate Cox regression model revealed early nutritional guidance as a significant predictor for long-term mortality but not for primary composite endpoints. Furthermore, undernourished patients, defined as those with a geriatric nutritional risk index of 98 or less, showed a similar prognosis to those with good nutritional status after receiving nutritional guidance, indicating that nutritional guidance improves prognosis.
Conclusion: Nutritionist-led dietary guidance for patients with AMI can potentially improve total mortality and is expected to be more effective in undernourished patients. Further research is warranted to explore the physiological impacts of improved diets resulting from such guidance and their effects on enhancing prognosis.