ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME

Abstract

Objective; In this study we looked at the demographic characteristics and the frequency of the
various risk factors and categories of acute coronary syndrome among patients presenting to Queen Alia
Heart Institute/ King Hussein Medical Centre –Amman - Jordan. Method; This was a retrospective
analysis of patients who presented to our cardiac centre with acute coronary syndrome in the period
between January 2005 and December 2008.Demographic data, risk factors for coronary artery disease,
type of the acute coronary syndrome, hospital stay and in hospital morbidity& mortality were collected
using a specially designed form. Results; We looked at 2355 patients with a diagnosis of acute
coronary syndrome who were treated during the index period. Thirty five percent were females. The
mean age and standard deviation (SD) of the study group was 55.9 (±12.2) years. The mean age for
females was 59.7 (±13.2) years and for males was 53.8 (±11.6) years (P < 0.001). Prevalence of smoking
was 58.7% compared to 26.9% in the general population (P < 0.001). Only 33.2% of females were
smokers compared to 72.5% of males (P < 0.001).Diabetic’s accounted for 43.7% of the population and
hypertensive’s for 44.3% of our population. In females the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was
62.3% and 61.5% respectively compared to a prevalence of 34.2% and 35.1% in males (P < 0.001).
Family history of coronary artery disease was present in 20.6% of patients (24.3% in females and 18.6%
in males) (P value not significant). Hypercholesterolemia was present in 24.4% of the study population
(26.1% of females& 23.5% of males) (P value not significant).Conclusion; Our data showed high
frequency of smoking, diabetes, hypertension with the later two being more prevalent in females, who
were significantly older. Males had significantly higher in hospital complications than females. The main
delay to reperfusion we found to be in seeking medical advice especially in females but once done our
times are comparable to that in Western countries.
Key words: Acute coronary syndrome, demographic characteristics, risk factors, Jordan.