Long-term survival of 224 patients with myocardial infarction treated in a community hospital.

In a retrospective, five-year follow-up study of 224 patients treated for acute myocardial infarction in a community hospital, there was an 82 percent in-hospital survival rate and an overall 57 percent five-year survival rate. Corrected for expected mortality, the five-year survival rate was 68 percent. Patients who had had a previous infarction had a lower five-year survival rate, 40 percent. Survival decreased significantly with age, but was not affected by hypertension, diabetes, smoking, sex, or obesity (when corrected for age differences). Women and nonsmokers who had myocardial infarctions could expect to have longer lifespans than men and smokers because they were older at the time of their infarction. At the time of their infarction, women averaged 68 years of age, men 60 years. Nonsmokers averaged 67 years, smokers 55 years.