The Postinfarction Clinic in Göteborg, Sweden

Since Jan. 1, 1968, a Postmyocardial Infarction Clinic has been operating in Göteborg, Sweden. The methods used have been presented previously in this journal. The present study compares 96 male postinfarction cases, 57-67-year-old, treated at the Postmyocardial Infarction Clinic and a random sample of 85 patients not treated at the clinic. The mortality did not differ between the groups but there was a significant difference with regard to non-fatal reinfarction. The reasons for this are only partially explained by better control of accepted cardiovascular risk factors in the group treated at the clinic. Cessation of smoking was vigorously recommended but lipid lowering, antiarrhythmic or anticoagulant drugs were never used in this group. The results indicate that formalized management of homogeneous patient groups may achieve a general reduction of recurrences.