Coronary artery atherosclerosis revisited in Korean war combat casualties.

To confirm earlier studies of a high prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis in combat casualties of the Korean and Vietnam wars, we examined previously uncut coronary arteries from the hearts of 94 American male combat casualties (mean age, 20.5 years) from the Korean War using computerized planimetry and microscopic evaluation. Six (6.4%) men had severe atherosclerosis (75% to 90% cross-sectional area luminal narrowing) in one or more coronary arteries; five of the six had fibrous plaques, and one had a complicated plaque. Our prevalence is similar to that reported previously (5%). Therefore, to determine whether the decrease in the incidence of severe coronary atherosclerosis today is the result of decreased plaque formation in the young, we will need to examine at least 772 men to detect a 50% decline with 85% to 90% confidence.

Soft tissue sarcomas and military service in Vietnam: a case comparison group analysis of hospital patients.

The possibility that exposure to Agent Orange or phenoxy herbicides may have increased the risk of soft tissue sarcomas has been of genuine concern to Vietnam veterans and their families. A hospital-based case comparison group study was undertaken to examine, through a comprehensive review of medical records and military personnel records, the association between previous military service in Vietnam and soft tissue sarcomas. The case group comprised 234 Vietnam-era veteran patients who served in the US military between 1964 and 1975 and were treated in one of the 172 VA hospitals between 1969 and 1983 with a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas. The comparison group consisted of 13,496 patients who were systematically sampled from the same Vietnam-era veteran patient population from which the cases were drawn. Military service information, in particular Vietnam service status, for each case and control patient was obtained from a review of the patient's military personnel records archived at the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri. No significant association of soft tissue sarcomas and previous military service in Vietnam was observed: odds ratio was 0.83 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.63 to 1.09.