Clinical Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction: Analysis of Results in 122 Cases

The treatment of 122 consecutive cases of acute myocardial infarction admitted from January 1976 to August 1979 was summarized in this report. Sixty cases admitted from Jan. 1976 to Jan. 1978 were treated without CCU facilities and 5 died in the hospital. Sixty-two cases admitted in recent two years （Feb. 1978-Aug. 1979） were taken care of in the CCU for 3-7 days in the acute stage and there were 3 hospital deaths. The slight reduction of mortality rate in the second group was considered to be the result of early detection and more aggressive treatment of serious arrhythmias and other complications. Eighty-two episodes of clinically significant arrhythmias occurred in the early stages in all patients observed. These represent the most frequent complications among our patients. Cardiogenic shock occurred in seven patients among whom four were due to the consequence of marked bradycardia. The importance of prompt and effective treatment of arrhythmia was emphasized. Complete A-V block occurred in 10 cases. Five were temporarily paced via intravenous catheter passed into the right ventricle. Since pacing by the Seldinger technique is a simple and safe procedure, the authors recommend its use whenever the heart block is associated with Adams-Stokes syndrome, bradycardia or hypotension which are not responsive to medical treatment.