Another Call for RCTs of Interventions to Reduce Particulate Matter 2.5 Associated Cardiovascular Health Effects

This observational study gathered data from 73,425 U.S. Veterans in multiple domains including the Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment, Reporting and Tracking (VA-CART) program, inpatient and outpatient laboratory electronic health records, and geospatial information.  PM2.5 concentrations at the zip code level were estimated by combining information from satellite remote sensing, chemical transport modeling, and calibration to ground based observations.  This study adds new evidence that expands the list of clinical subgroups at risk of poor cardiovascular outcomes associated with long-term exposure to PM2.5, as well as highlights the complexity of data acquisition and management; analytical and statistical methods attendant to contemporary environmental epidemiological research, and the challenge of providing evidence-based clinical guidance for health care professionals.

Impact/Purpose

In this issue of JACC: Advances, Motairek and colleagues (Motairek I, et al. JACC: Advances 2023) report that chronic (long-term) exposure to inhaled ambient airborne particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) increases the risk of major adverse clinical events (MACE: myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or all-cause mortality) and life years lost in a cohort of US Veterans after elective percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).

Citation

Cascio, W. AND C. Ward-Caviness. Another Call for RCTs of Interventions to Reduce Particulate Matter 2.5 Associated Cardiovascular Health Effects. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 2(3):100317, (2023). [DOI: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100317]

DOI: Another Call for RCTs of Interventions to Reduce Particulate Matter 2.5 Associated Cardiovascular Health Effects