[Coronary heart disease and peripheral arterial occlusive disease, with particular reference to myocardial infarction (author's transl)].

Coronary heart disease and peripheral arterial vascular disease are parts of a systemic disease. Starting from manifest myocardial infarction, the simultaneous existence of peripheral arterial occlusive diseases in Fontaine's Stages I and II was detected in 176 out of a total of 193 patients with myocardial infarction. The frequency of concomitant coronary and peripheral vascular obstruction was 65.9-94.1% in the three studies carried out. In coronary heart disease without infarction the frequency of a coincident attack in both vascular areas was 87.9%. In 27.8 to 33.3% of the patients with myocardial infarction, signs of peripheral occlusive disease could be demonstrated already before the onset of infarction. The mutual relationships between coronary and peripheral arterial occlusive diseases are of particular significance for the rehabilitation measures striven for.