A clinicopathologic comparison of acute myocardial infarction in the elderly Chinese and American.

A prospective study was done on 110 patients, 55 Chinese and 55 American elderly who had clinically proved acute myocardial infarction with histologic confirmation. The Chinese patients were much more likely to have typical pain than the American (65.4% vs 49.0%). The incidence of painlessness was only 18.1% vs 36.3%. The difference has statistical significance (P less than 0.05). Cardiac failure, shock, pulmonary infection as a major complication had no statistical significance, but the incidence of cardiac rupture group was 29.0% vs 10.9%. Ventricular fibrillation incidence was 18.1% in the Chinese vs 45.4% in the American. The incidence of recent occlusive coronary thrombi, hemorrhage and rupture of plague in coronary arteries had significant statistical difference. The incidence of triple, double and single vessel diseases were 41.8%, 29.0% and 27.2% in the Chinese group vs 36.3%, 27.2% and 25.4% in the American respectively.