Fatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

It has been clearly demonstrated in numerous clinical and anatomical studies that arteriosclerosis and its complications are commoner in patients with diabetes mellitus than in nondiabetic patients.* In the autopsy series at Washington University, diabetes mellitus is three times as common among men with acute myocardial infarction as among men in the general autopsy population. The corresponding ratio for women in this series is 4:1.⁷ Thus, the close association between diabetes mellitus and acute myocardial infarction is well known. However, inadequate information is available regarding the clinical and anatomical features of diabetics with acute myocardial infarction as compared with the corresponding characteristics of nondiabetics with acute myocardial infarction. The purpose of this report is to present the clinical and anatomical features in 94 diabetics who died with acute myocardial infarction compared with those in 406 nondiabetics who died with acute myocardial infarction. Material and Methods During the period 1910-1954,