Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Many patients die early during the course, and those who survive are at risk for dying late from adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure.~The initial ischemic damage to the myocardium initiates an intense inflammatory response in promoting further cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is the prototypical inflammatory cytokine involved in the tissue response to injury. In the experimental model of large anterior wall AMI in the mouse, IL-1 blockade using anakinra, a recombinant human IL-1 receptor antagonist ameliorates cardiac remodeling and improves survival following AMI. Although the mouse AMI model is helpful in understanding the events leading to adverse post-infarction cardiac remodeling and heart failure, the exact role of IL-1 in patients with AMI has not been completely characterized. The investigators propose to address this question by studying patients presenting with ST-segment elevation AMI (STEMI). Such patients are at high risk for in-hospital and long-term mortality and display several markers of inflammation. The investigators hypothesize that IL-1 blockade in patients STEMI with will limit the acute inflammatory response and prevent adverse cardiac remodeling, heart failure, and related morbidity.~The investigators hypothesize that treatment with anakinra will lead to more favorable cardiac remodeling. Left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVi) is the preferred clinical marker of adverse cardiac remodeling and a strong predictor of heart failure-related mortality in patients with STEMI, and will be used as primary endpoint of the study. The investigators propose that anakinra will reduce the change in LVESVi from baseline to 10-14 weeks after STEMI, and will prevent, at least in part, other changes in cardiac function and exercise tolerance associated with adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure.
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Many patients die early during the course, and those who survive are at risk for dying late from adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure.~The initial ischemic damage to the myocardium initiates an intense inflammatory response in promoting further cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. The investigators propose that an antiinflammatory strategy based on blockade of Interleukin-1 will quench the inflammatory response and lead to a more favorable cardiac remodeling process.