Myocardial infarction in a rural hospital

Little is known of the outcome of myocardial infarction in patients managed in regional hospitals, where investigational and therapeutic modalities may have limited availability. Policies in place in the Intensive Care Unit of Wimmera Base Hospital for the management of myocardial infarction are designed to ensure that current 'best practice' is followed where possible. In order to audit our practices, and to ensure that these practices lead to patient outcomes similar to those published in cardiological literature, we performed a case note audit of patients admitted with myocardial infarction. We were keen to assess the risk factors of our patients, as it has been our impression that most patients with myocardial infarction have risk factors for ischaemic heart disease. Over a three year period (1991 to 1994) 88 persons with diagnosis of myocardial infarction were discharged from the intensive care unit. The in-hospital and 30 day mortality rates were 7.95%.