ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical profiles, predictors of 30-day mortality, and the adherence to international recommendations for the treatment of myocardial infarction in an academic medical center hospital. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 172 patients with acute myocardial infarction, admitted in the intensive care unit from January 1992 to December 1997. RESULTS: Most patients were male (68 percent), white (97 percent), and over 60 years old (59 percent). The main risk factor for coronary atherosclerotic disease was systemic blood hypertension (63 percent). Among all the variables studied, reperfusion therapy, smoking, hypertension, cardiogenic shock, and age were the predictors of 30-day mortality. Most commonly used medications were: acetylsalicylic acid (71 percent), nitrates (61 percent), diuretics (51 percent), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (46 percent), thrombolytic therapy (39 percent), and beta-blockers (35 percent). CONCLUSION: The absence of reperfusion therapy, smoking status, hypertension, cardiogenic shock, and advanced age are predictors of 30-day mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction. In addition, some medications that are undoubtedly beneficial have been under-used after acute myocardial infarction