Patients stabilised within 10 days of an acute coronary syndrome remain at long-term risk of sudden death and the risk climbs even higher after additional cardiac events, a major study shows.

US and Canadian researchers say their findings provide novel insights into the phenomenon in stabilised patients and should help clinicians identify opportunities to improve post-acute coronary syndrome (post-ACS) care.

Writing in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the authors analysed data from the IMPROVE-IT (Improved Reduction of Outcomes: Vytorin Efficacy International Trial) cohort of 18,000 adults, who were given simvastatin alone or with ezetimibe after stabilisation.

Out of some 2400 deaths reported, they identified 402 sudden deaths, most of which occurred more than a year after the ACS event.