Anticoagulant Therapy After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

The value of anticoagulant therapy after acute myocardial infarction has been assessed in 1,136 patients admitted to the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center. The treatment reduced the overall mortality in women from 31% to 15%, particularly those 55 years of age or over, with moderately severe infarction. The low overall mortality in control men (16%) was not reduced with treatment, though there was significant reduction of the mortality in a subgroup of men with moderately severe infarction showing Q-wave evolution. Age and sex, as well as the severity of the episode of acute myocardial infarction, are important in determining whether anticoagulant therapy is likely to be beneficial.