Sterfte en doodsoorzaken op een hartbewakingsafdeling

– In 1984, 1161 patients were admitted to the coronary care unit of the Thorax Centre. Seventy-four of them died; 317 patients were admitted to the observation ward. 286 patients had a myocardial infarction. The mortality rate of patients transferred from other hospitals with an already complicated infarction was 21, that of patients admitted directly to the Thorax Centre, 12. Pump failure was the main cause of death; for this reason the correlations between haemodynamic data and mortality are discussed. The patients with other diagnoses are briefly described.

Autopsy was carried out in 42 of the 74 deceased patients. In 40 of these, the clinical diagnosis was confirmed; an unexpected ventricular rupture was encountered in one and multiple pulmonary emboli in one other. Further reduction of the in-hospital mortality of patients with a myocardial infarction necessitates a therapy that reduces the size of the infarction.