Early mortality of acute myocardial infarction in patients with and without prior coronary revascularization surgery. A Coronary Artery Surgery Study Registry Study.

BACKGROUNDThe Coronary Artery Surgery Study (CASS) Registry is used to evaluate the effect of various baseline clinical and angiographic factors on mortality after acute out-of-hospital myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with and without prior coronary bypass surgery.METHODS AND RESULTSAmong the CASS Registry patients, there were 985 medical and 369 surgical patients who had an MI out of the hospital within 3 years after enrollment. In the medical group, 20% died before hospitalization. Medical patients with baseline three-vessel disease or left ventricular (LV) dysfunction were at high risk of immediate death. For medical patients who were hospitalized with MI, mortality was higher for older patients and those with severe angina as well as for those with extensive disease and LV dysfunction. The total 30-day mortality for medical patients was 36%. In the surgical group, 12% died before hospitalization. Surgical patients with LV dysfunction or prior MI were at highest risk of immediate death. For surg...