Additional data favoring use of anticoagulant therapy in myocardial infarction. A population-based study.

A community-wide study was conducted in metropolitan Baltimore in which the survival of 1,307 patients with acute myocardial infarction was examined according to use of anticoagulants. The adjusted in-hospital case-fatality rate was lower for patients receiving anticoagulants (18%) than for those not receiving this therapy (31%). This difference persisted in each period examined in the study (1966 and 1967 or 1971) and was found in 17 of 20 participating hospitals. For hospital survivors followed up for as long as ten years, a better survival was again found for those treated with anticoagulants in the acute phase compared with those not treated.