[Importance of risk factors in myocardial infarction (author's transl)].

Importance of risk factors as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes mellitus and cigarette smoking because of hemodynamic and complication during acute myocardial infarction and influence of live quality during the first year after myocardial infarct was pointed out in this study. No risk factor was found in 12.1% out of 248 patients. 25.8% had one, 33.5% two, 12.9% three and 3.2% four risk factors. If only one risk factor for coronary heart disease was documented, 35.9% showed cigarette smoking. If there were two risk factors, most of the people had diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and the combination diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia and cigarette smoking was favourite if there were three risk factors present. The mean age of all patients was 65.9 +/- 10.8 years. Patients who smoked or had hyperlipidaemia were statistically significantly younger (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between number of risk factors or kind of it and pulse frequence, cardiac index, pulmonary artery pressure and third heart sound during phase of acute myocardial infarction. Also no correlation was found between the risk factors hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cigarette smoking and rhythm disturbance of reinfarction. Patients with normal lipids had significant more bradycard or tachycard rhythm disturbances as patients with hyperlipidaemia (p < 0.05). Patients without diabetes mellitus or hypertension had better bicycle tests than patients with this risk factors (p < 0.01). 92% of hypertensive patients had regular drug medication; 14.1% of smoking patients continued smoking cigarettes after acute myocardial infarction. Only 62.1% of diabetic patients, 54.1% of hyperlipidaemic patients and 40% of overweight patients kept diet. Because of this bad quality of patient compliance there was no exact information possible in predicting value of secondary preventive measurements after acute myocardial infarction.