Coronary risk factors and a 20-year incidence of coronary heart disease and mortality in a Mediterranean industrial population. The Manresa Study, Spain.

The association between coronary risk factors measured at entry and 20-year coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality was studied in an industrial cohort of 1059 men aged 30 to 59 years and free of CHD in 1968, in Spain. Myocardial infarction and fatal CHD cases were diagnosed according to recognized criteria. Mean serum cholesterol was 223.3 mg.dl-1 and 67% of men were current smokers. Rates of CHD incidence, CHD mortality and all-causes mortality, per 10(5) persons-year of observation, were 476, 194 and 617, respectively. Age, serum cholesterol, plasma glucose, cigarettes smoked and systolic blood pressure (SBP) contributed to the risk of CHD incidence. The first four variables predicted CHD death risk. All-causes death risk was positively associated with age, plasma glucose and SBP levels. Results are consistent with prior reported low CHD mortality and morbidity rates in the Mediterranean area, and confirm the importance of coronary risk factors in this low-risk population.

[Clinico-radiological correlation of the dorsal spine in a population of workers]. / Corrélation clinico-radiologique du rachis dorsal dans une population ouvrière.

A prospective study of the dorsal spine was done in 337 workers chosen at random, in the aim of determining whether there was a clinical and radiological correlation, and the possible influence of the type and duration of work done on the appearance of the disorders. The series was composed of 265 men (19-63 years old) and 72 women (27-63 years old). Thirty-five per cent of the overall series complained of dorsal pain (53% in the women, 30% in the men). In one third of cases, the problems lead to work stoppage, and about 8% had to change jobs. Sixty-six per cent of the overall group showed some radiological change, without there being a significanct difference between the two clinical groups. Sixty-two point five per cent of the symptomatic group showed some radiological change. The presence of dysplasia, static changes and arthroses was observed in similar percentages in the symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The exercise index has no relation with the symptoms since it was very similar in the two groups. The individuals with an above-average exercise index showed a higher incidence of arthrosis, but only in the group of men more than forty years old (this was statistically significant). As was to be expected, the incidence of arthrosis increases with age, without a difference between the two groups. Arthrosis was much more frequent in cases of major vertebral dysplasia (cuneiform or trapezoid vertebra), 56% of cases, than in those with minimal dysplasia (Schmorl's nodule, irregularities of the apexes), 24%, and in cases of dysplasia, 29%.