The effect of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors on the risk of myocardial infarction in a cohort of patients with depression

AIM To evaluate whether selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure influences the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with depression. METHODS This study included 693 patients with MI (cases) and 2772 controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR). RESULTS SSRI exposure may be associated with a reduced MI risk (OR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.57, 1.03). However, reduced risk was only observed with longer term use (OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.53, 1.00) and not with shorter term use (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 0.65, 2.05). CONCLUSIONS Only longer term use of SSRIs was associated with reduced MI risk, suggesting that other mechanisms, besides an acute anti-platelet effect, may reduce MI risk.