Long-term prognosis in 990 medically treated Japanese patients with coronary artery disease.

We performed a retrospective analysis of the fate of 990 medically treated Japanese patients with coronary artery disease. Patients were enrolled in this study between September 1973 and February 1984. They were confirmed to have significant coronary artery disease by coronary angiography. There were 924 males and 66 females with a mean age of 54.4 years. The mean duration of follow-up was 9.4 years with a range of 6.5 to 17.0 years. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates for the entire population were 92.1% and 84.4%. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates in patients with single- (SVD), double- (DVD), and triple-vessel disease (TVD) and left main trunk (LMT) disease were as follows: 96.0% and 91.9% for SVD, 93.8% and 87.5% for DVD, 83.2% and 68.3% for TVD, and 89.3% and 84.6% for LMT disease. This was the first large follow-up study of coronary artery disease in Japan. Its results suggest that the prognosis of Japanese patients with coronary artery disease is more favorable than that of patients in Western countries. In addition, the findings should provide a control data base for future studies in Japan and the West.