The Primary Prevention of Myocardial Infarction

IN the United States, coronary heart disease — principally myocardial infarction — accounts for approximately 1 of every 3 deaths, or nearly 600,000 deaths each year.1 Almost 50 percent of the deaths attributed to myocardial infarction occur before the victims reach the hospital, and of the 500,000 people admitted each year for myocardial infarction, about 15 percent die during the hospitalization and another 7 to 10 percent die during the ensuing several years.2 , 3 A therapy for myocardial infarction that improved survival by even 20 percent would therefore affect tens of thousands of lives, and a similar benefit in the primary . . .