Types of Death in Acute Myocardial Infarction

When a person dies days or weeks after acute myocardial infarction develops, the exact precipitating cause and mechanism of death often pose enigmas. To know the cause and mechanism of death is not of academic interest alone; such knowledge may prove of value in the more intelligent approach to the treatment of patients with this common disease. The primary purpose of this study was to determine, in so far as possible, the type of death in a series of patients who died of acute myocardial infarction, with the hope of shedding additional light on the mechanism of death in other patients having this condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS A study was made of 133 cases of fatal acute myocardial infarction in which necropsy was performed and in which the age and sex of the patients were known. The acute infarcts of these patients were classified as to their anatomic characteristics and