MACE (major adverse cardiac events)

• term MACE, defined as 'major adverse cardiac events,' is arguably the most commonly used composite end point in cardiovascular research
  • term MACE appears to have originated in the mid-1990s with its use restricted primarily to in-hospital complications related to percutaneous coronary interventions
    
    
• there is no standard definition of MACE, it is routinely used and reported for procedural, short-term, and long-term outcome evaluations, and may involve other cardiovascular treatments (2)
  
  
• a review (2) suggested that 'Varying definitions of composite end points, such as MACE, can lead to substantially different results and conclusions. Therefore, the term MACE, in particular, should not be used, and when composite study end points are desired, researchers should focus separately on safety and effectiveness outcomes, and construct separate composite end points to match these different clinical goals...'

Reference:

• Hermans WR et al. Usefulness of quantitative and qualitative angiographic lesion morphology, and clinical characteristics in predicting major adverse cardiac events during and after native coronary balloon angioplasty: CARPORT and MERCATOR study groups Am J Cardiol 1993;72:14-20
• Kip K. The problem with composite end points in cardiovascular studies: the story of major adverse cardiac events and percutaneous coronary intervention.J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Feb 19;51(7):701-7.