Impact of severe earthquake on the occurrence of acute coronary syndrome and stroke in a rural area of Japan.
BACKGROUND
Although acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stroke are known to increase after earthquake, few data exist regarding the effect of earthquake on these cardiovascular events in rural areas.


RESULTS
The Noto Peninsula earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 occurred at 9:45 a.m. on 25 March 2007. The first case of ACS occurred approximately 15 min later, whereas cerebral hemorrhage (CH) occurred 72 h after the onset of earthquake. During the 35 days after earthquake, among 49 patients who were attended by local ambulance, 5 patients with ACS (10.2%) and 8 with CH (16.3%) were documented and 4 died. The total number of both ACS and CH cases was greater than the averages for the same period of the past 3 years in this area (2.0 vs 5 and 2.3 vs 8, P<0.01). Interestingly, the most cases of ACS had occurred within 7 days after earthquake and for CH not until 35 days later.


CONCLUSIONS
Even in rural areas a severe earthquake results in increased incidence of ACS and CH, which can occur at different times after the event, although the effects of other environmental factors should be further investigated.
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Takara-machi, Kanazawa, Japan.
Masayuki
M
Tsuchida
Masa-Aki
MA
Kawashiri
Ryota
R
Teramoto
Mutsuko
M
Takata
Kenji
K
Sakata
Wataru
W
Omi
Masaki
M
Okajima
Masayuki
M
Takamura
Hidekazu
H
Ino
Yoshihito
Y
Kita
Tadayoshi
T
Takegoshi
Hideo
H
Inaba
Masakazu
M
Yamagishi
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D055866:Earthquakes; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology