Annual Incidence and Lethality of Acute Myocardial Infarction in the City of San Carlos de Bariloche. The REGIBAR Study

pp. 410-416

Abstract

Background: The incidence and lethality of myocardial infarction in Argentina were estimated by extrapolating data from hospital records and death certificates.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the annual incidence and lethality of cases presenting a first spontaneous acute myocardial infarction in the city of San Carlos de Bariloche.

Methods: A prospective registry was carried out during one year of all spontaneous fatal and non-fatal acute myocardial infarctions in stable residents of the city, following the World Health Organization-MONICA protocol. Based on the 112,887 inhabitants of the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, according to the 2010 Census, hospitalized cases were registered in all the health centers; fatal out-of-hospital cases through verbal autopsies and non-fatal ones in doctor’s offices.

Results: One hundred and forty-four cases of acute myocardial infarction were registered (age 71.1 years, 63.5% men) with an annual incidence of 128 per 100,000 inhabitants. The annual rate of acute myocardial infarction standardized by age (35 to 64 years) was 119 per 100,000 inhabitants, corresponding to 173 men and 44 women. Among the 61 fatal out-of-hospital infarctions, 16 were possible fatal acute myocardial infarctions and 45 unclassifiable deaths (included according to the MONICA criteria). Overall mortality was 46.5%, 9% corresponding to hospitalized patients and 91% to non-hospitalized cases.

Conclusions: According to the MONICA project criteria, the annual incidence of acute myocardial infarction in San Carlos de Bariloche was 128 per 100,000 inhabitants. More than 40% of cases did not reach admission to a health center. Overall mortality due to acute myocardial infarction was 46.2%, with more than 90% of deaths occurring before hospital admission.