Shorter Hospital Stay for Myocardial Infarction

When President Eisenhower suffered an uncomplicated anterior myocardial infarction in 1955, he spent seven weeks convalescing in the hospital. He was permitted little physical activity and at first was carried to and from his bed by two corpsmen.1 Although the President received unusually cautious treatment, hospital stays of this duration — and extreme restriction of physical activity — were common practice at that time even for less notable patients. In this issue of the Journal, Topol et al.2 suggest that a similar patient today may be safely discharged from the hospital in three days. What has prompted this turnabout? . . .