Assessment of 3-year prognosis in survivors of acute myocardial infarction.

A 3-year follow-up with regard to survival was made of 475 initial survivors of an acute myocardial infarction originally treated in a coronary care unit. Previous diseases, complications during the hospital stay, as well as findings recorded on discharge from hospital, were used to construct a prognostic stratification. By multivariate analyses maximum respiratory rate during the coronary care unit stay, left bundle-branch block, and age proved prognostically most important. Using only these factors, patient groups with a 3-year monthly mortality up to 74 per cent were characterized.