Mortality patterns in acute coronary heart disease in New Zealand.

An analysis has been made of death certificate information from 4885 persons classified as having died from acute myocardial infarction or other acute or subacute forms of ischaemic heart disease. One-third of non-Maori deaths occur in a public hospital and half the deaths occur at home. One-third of the deaths occur within five minutes, half within one hour, and by 24 hours, two-thirds of all those who die within two months of an acute coronary heart attack, have already died. Sudden death is more common in the elderly and far more common in those who die outside hospital. Post-mortems were performed in approximately a quarter of the patients. In public hospitals, 36 percent of non-Maoris had a post-mortem examination and 10 percent of Maoris.