Coronary Care in a General Hospital

Abstract

The establishment, staffing and structure and observations made in the first year of the existence of coronary care in an intensive care unit in a general hospital are recorded. Two hundred and twenty eight patients were admitted during the year in whom the diagnosis of myocardial infarction was confirmed. There were 29 deaths in the unit and 14 deaths occurred in the wards of the hospital after discharge from the unit. 49.1 per cent of the patients were admitted within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms and the mean duration of stay in the unit was 86.5 hours. The type of arrhythmia detected in the unit, and the treatment given to the patients both before and after admission to the intensive care unit are described.