[The hostility complex and myocardial infarct].

Several studies have associated the hostility complex (part of type A personality) to the development of coronary atherosclerosis. The complex is composed by aggressive behavior, frequent rage outbursts, intolerance to waiting lines and sense of urgency. To investigate the occurrence of this behavioral trait, 50 post-myocardial infarction men were compared against 50 normal male subjects of the same age. In all of them sphygmomanometric blood pressure was obtained, total blood cholesterol was measured and hostility was quantified by means of the Cook and Medley's questionnaire and an arbitrary ad hoc scale. Diastolic blood pressure was significatively higher in post-infarction patients (82 +/- 10 vs 77 +/- 9, p < 0.001), as well as the cholesterol level (231 +/- 55 vs 197 +/- 43, p < 0.001). Also, hostility score was higher in the post-infarcted men (16 +/- 4 vs 13 +/- 5, p < 0.001). The hostility score showed correlation with the occurrence of myocardial infarction (p < 0.02). These results establish that post-myocardial infarction patients express more hostility than control subjects. It was not possible to establish the true nature of the relationship among hostility and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and the occurrence of coronary events. Nevertheless, this study confirms that the hostility complex is frequently present in atherosclerotic patients.