Huaman MA, et al. - An association, if any, between latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was determined. Findings revealed an independent association between LTBI and AMI. Results thereby indicated a potentially significant role of LTBI in cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods

• A case-control study in 2 large national public hospital networks in Lima, Peru, between July 2015 and March 2017 was conducted.
• Patients with a first time diagnosis of type 1 (spontaneous) AMI were the case patients.
• Patients without a history of AMI were included as controls.
• Patients with known human immunodeficiency virus infection, tuberculosis disease, or prior LTBI treatment were excluded.
• The QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube assay was used to identify LTBI.
• Logistic regression modeling was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) of LTBI in AMI case patients vs non-AMI controls.

Results

• During the study period, 105 AMI case patients and 110 non-AMI controls were enrolled.
• The overall median age was 62 years (interquartile range, 56–70 years).
• 69% of patients were males, 64% had hypertension, 40% had dyslipidemia, and 39% had diabetes mellitus, 30% used tobacco, and 24% were obese.
• AMI case patients compared to controls were more frequently male (80% vs 59%; P < .01) and tobacco users (41% vs 20%; P < .01).
• AMI case patients had more frequently LTBI than controls (64% vs 49% [P=.03]; OR, 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08–3.22).
• In this study, after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, obesity, and family history of coronary artery disease, LTBI continued to have independent association with AMI (adjusted OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.05–3.45).