[Comparison of 2 groups of patients hospitalized at 10 years' interval for recent myocardial infarction].

The aim of this study was to compare two groups of patients admitted consecutively to the Coronary Care Unit in 1972-73 (223 cases) and in 1982-83 (243 cases) for recent myocardial infarction, and followed up for at least 15 days, to try and appreciate the influence of changes in treatment which had taken place during this interval on outcome and mortality. The two groups were comparable with regards to age, sex, time of admission with respect to onset of symptoms, previous vascular disease, and principal coronary risk factors. The clinical presentation of myocardial infarction and its common complications (cardiac failure, arrhythmias) were unchanged at 10 years' interval. The only statistically significant but unexplained difference was the lower proportion of posterior infarctions in 1982-1983 compared to 1972-1973. This decrease was partly due to the increased detection of rudimentary infarcts by more specific enzyme methods. The decrease in the proportion of posterior infarcts probably also explained the lower numbers of atrioventricular blocks. Other differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (slight increase in age, fewer women, lower incidence of cardiac failure). The mortality rate was exactly the same at 20.6%, and the causes of death were identical. The results support those of other rare studies of the same subject showing the lack of effect of recent therapeutic innovations on the majority of patients with myocardial infarction.