Cause of Death in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Abstract

Background: It is important to assess cause of death in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to improve the accuracy of prognosis.

Methods: We investigated the cause of death in 221 patients with a first diagnosis of ACS.

Results: In the short-term outcome, the major cause of death was cardiovascular disease (35/50, 70.0%). In the long-term outcome, non-cardiovascular death was the major cause of death (97/171, 56.7%). The major preventable causes of death were pneumonia (13/171, 7.6%) and heart failure (19/171, 11.1%).

Conclusions: The major preventable causes of death in patients with ACS are pneumonia and heart failure in the long-term outcome.