Background: Short-term (<30 day) mortality after Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) has declined over the decades, but it is unclear if rates of long-term sequelae after Q-wave MI have improved.
Methods and results: In 546 Framingham Heart Study subjects (388 men with a mean age of 60 years; 158 women with a mean age of 69 years) with an initial recognized Q-wave MI from 1950 through 1989, we investigated time trends in risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) death (n=199), all-cause mortality (n=287), reinfarction (n=108), and congestive heart failure (CHF; n=121). With 1950 through 1969 as the reference period, hazards ratios (HRs) for these outcomes were determined for the 1970s and 1980s. Trend analyses across the 3 time periods were performed for each outcome. Compared with the 1950 through 1969 reference period, the HRs for CHD death were lower in subsequent decades (1970 through 1979: HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.98; 1980 through 1989: HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.33 to 0.72). All-cause mortality also declined (1970 through 1979: HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.0.52 to 0.94; 1980 through 1989: HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.81). There were no significant temporal changes in the risks for recurrent MI or CHF.
Conclusions: Substantial reductions in risk of CHD death and all-cause mortality occurred over these 4 decades, coincident with improvements in post-MI therapies. The absence of a decline in CHF incidence may be due to improved post-MI survival of individuals with depressed left ventricular systolic function who are at high risk for CHF.