Long-term follow-up of medically treated patients with coronary artery disease--I. Incidence of major cardiac events and its risk factors in Japanese with coronary artery disease.

In the cooperative, multi-center trial, 491 medically treated patients with coronary artery disease were thoroughly assessed and followed for an average of 49 months. The rate of cardiac death and/or non-fatal myocardial infarction was 9.8%; 64% of cardiac events were fatal. Three factors, such as number of diseased coronary arteries, other diseased organs and the cardiothoracic ratio, contributed significantly to the evolution of cardiac events. The outcome of cardiac events in Japan in the period from 1973 to 1985 in patients with coronary artery disease was more favorable than those reported recently in the United States. The results of this study will serve as a control data base for further studies in Japan.