An age-related difference in the ratio of sudden coronary death over acute myocardial infarction in Estonian males.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the in-hospital and the out-of-hospital mortality rate from ischemic heart disease (IHD). The age-related incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the number of sudden coronary deaths (SCD) in males in South Estonia with the population of approximately 400,000 inhabitants were subjected to comparative analysis covering a period of 17 years (1980-1996). The annual AMI incidence rate per 100,000 males was 30.8 (95% CI, 27.2-34.4) in the younger age group (20-39) and 393.1 (382-404) in the older age group (40-84); the rates for SCD were 19.2 (16.4-22) and 120 (114-126), respectively. The ratio of annual incidence rate of SCD/AMI in the younger group was significantly higher than that in the older group (chi2 = 5.23; P < 0.05). Thus, the out-of-hospital SCD seems to be of even more relative importance in the total mortality from IHD in young males than it is in older males.