ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To detect possible cardiological risk factors in the acute phase of MI for developing depressive symptoms after first MI. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of cardiac and psychiatric data of 111 consecutive patients admitted with a first MI. METHODS: During one year, all consecutive patients with a first MI, less than 12 hours chest pain and a maximal aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) value of at least 80 U/l, admitted to the University Hospital of Maastricht, were screened for the presence of depressive symptoms using the 90-item 'Symptom checklist' (SCL-90) questionnaire at one month post-MI. Inclusion criteria were fulfilled by 111 patients; 28 patients refused to participate in the study. RESULTS: No correlation was found between LVEF, peak ASAT, peak CK value and characteristics, location or mode of treatment of the MI and depressive symptoms post-MI. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between SCL-90 depression score and cardiac tissue loss as defined by cumulative ASAT release at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the acute event (p values 0.029, 0.028 and <0.009, respectively) at the one month post-MI screening. CONCLUSIONS: No cardiological parameters were correlated to depressive symptoms post-MI. If there was a connection at all, this appeared to be a negative correlation between infarct size as measured by ASAT release and the occurrence of depressive symptoms at one month post-MI.
