The Plasma Lipids and Their Fatty Acid Pattern in Myocardial Infarction

The concentrations of total plasma lipid, the major plasma lipid fractions including cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids, and the fatty acid composition of the lipid fractions mentioned, were determined partly by gas‐liquid chromatography in 21 male and 11 female patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction during the first 1–2 days of their disease and—in the survivors—4 to 12 months later. The results were compared with those of 18 male and 10 female normal persons without any known coronary disease and whose age was comparable with that of the patients. In most cases the results for the acute patients did not differ significantly from those for the controls. The analyses of the re‐examined patients showed increased concentrations of plasma total lipid and cholesterol as compared with those of the controls. The fatty acid composition of the main plasma lipid fractions was not significantly changed in the two patient groups as compared with that of the controls, with one exception: very low or zero values of linolenic acid of the plasma lipid fraction were significantly more frequent in the acute patients as compared with the controls.