Q-wave and non-Q wave myocardial infarction--prospective study.

Fifty patients each of Q-wave myocardial infarction (QMI) and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (NQMI) were studied clinically and followed up for one year. Significant differences were observed between the two groups concerning the mean age (higher in NQMI, p < 0.05), sex (more females in NQMI, p < 0.01), location of the infarct (inferior in QMI and anterolateral in NQMI, p < 0.01), past ischaemic episodes (higher in NQMI, p < 0.001), post infarction ischaemic episodes (higher in NQMI, p < 0.05), early mechanical and electrical complications (higher in QMI, p < 0.05), peak serum enzyme levels (higher in QMI, p < 0.05) and both early mortality (higher in QMI, p < 0.05) and subsequent mortality rates (higher in NQMI, p < 0.05). The total one year mortality was similar in both the groups (30%). When only anterolateral infarctions were considered longterm prognosis for QMI patients was worse than that of NQMI patients (65% vs 37.5%, p < 0.05). Contrariwise, irrespective of the type of infarction, QMI or NQMI, anterolateral infarction resulted in higher mortality than inferior wall infarction (46.7% vs 5% p < 0.001).