[Status of the coronary arteries and left ventricle of patients surviving myocardial infarction].

The condition of coronary arteries and left-ventricular function were assessed in 62 patients with a history of myocardial infarction 1 month to 4 years prior to coronarographic investigation. It was demonstrated that the detectability of an occlusion in the artery supplying blood to the infarcted area decreased with time elapsed since myocardial infarction, the correlation being more characteristic of the anterior interventricular branch of the left coronary artery. An analysis of ventriculograms showed that myocardial infarction due to a lesion of the left coronary artery results in a smaller left-ventricular dysfunction and is less commonly associated with circulatory insufficiency. The frequency of spontaneous thrombolysis is shown to be relatively high in postmyocardial-infarction patients.