title: Two-year survival after myocardial infarction.
abstract: We have studied 773 consecutive cases (706 individuals) with definite myocardial infarction treated in the Coronary Care Unit at Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm during the period 1984-85. Hospital mortality was 12.9% in all patients and 8.9% in patients under 70 years of age. Six hundred and six patients were discharged from the hospital and followed up for 2 years. The 2-year mortality in ischaemic heart disease was 14.4% in all patients and 9.5% in patients under 70 years of age and, including all causes of death, 20.3% and 14.6%, respectively. Our policy for medical treatment included frequent use of beta-adrenergic blocking agents, even in heart failure, and restricted use of antiarrhythmic drugs and digitalis. A short delay of admission may have been beneficial for the result of different kinds of anti-ischaemic intervention. Furthermore, a routinely performed exercise ECG before discharge and after 6 weeks, as part of a structured follow-up, has improved our ability to detect complications at an early stage and to optimize medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Danderyd Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Ericsson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Erhardt
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rehnqvist
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003325:Coronary Care Units; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality*; D011379:Prognosis; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors