Self admission for myocardial infarction. Controlled trial.

In a randomised controlled trial of 511 men under 65 followed for 1451 man/years, half the patients were invited to readmit themselves to hospital if ischaemic pain recurred. The majority of such patients who were readmitted took advantage of the scheme. There was no evidence that they admitted themselves unnecessarily.

Intermediate coronary care. A controlled trial.

A controlled trial of intermediate coronary care was carried out over a five-year period at a district general hospital. One thousand male patients under 65 were allocated at random into a group kept in the same ward as the coronary care unit (CCU) and a control group discharged from the CCU to a general medical ward. The intermediate care patients were nursed by the CCU staff, resuscitation equipment was immediately available and there was an efficient emergency call system.

Coronary care unit in a general medical ward.

A five-bedded coronary care unit has been set up within a general medical ward without the provision of extra medical or nursing staff. During 30 months 1,000 patients were admitted. Sixty-three developed cardiac arrest; 28 were resuscitated successfully initially; and 18 were eventually discharged.