Symposium on Research on Acute Myocardial Infarction

RECENT widely applied advances in the prevention and treatment of arrhythmias have saved the lives of many patients with acute myocardial infarction.It is likely, how- ever, that the full potential of arrhythmia pre- vention has not been realized as yet.Indeed, even with the most effective application of cur- rent knowledge, acute myocardial infarction will remain the chief cause of cardiovascular mortality and a major health problem of our nation and times.During most of the century which elapsed after establishment of the causal association of myocardial ischemia and infarc- tion, we learned little of immediate benefit to the patient.In recent years, the breadth of investigation of myocardial infarction has increased substantially, and a range of disci- plines have been directed toward the problem.For this reason, representatives of some of the key disciplines were invited to interchange infonnation and to identify particular areas that seemed to individual investigators to be most promising for further investigation.A Symposium on Research on Acute Myocardial Infarction was held March 26 to 28, 1969, un-