[Secondary pneumonias and their place in clinical cardiology]

As many as 1208 cards of myocardial infarction (MI) cases and 537 of those suffering from various heart diseases running a grave course and presenting with stage IIB-III chronic circulatory insufficiency were reviewed together with 289 records of anatomicopathological studies involving those having died from the above causes. Secondary pneumonias were found to occur in 7.8% of MI patients and 16 to 30.5% of those with grave cardiac abnormalities presenting with stage IIB-III chronic circulatory insufficiency. Secondary pneumonias in myocardial infarction were more commonly seen in elderly and old subject in the presence of cardiogenic shock, pulmonary edema, cardiac asthma, congestive heart failure, and other chronic diseases of the lungs. Hypodignosis of pneumonia was found to be the case in 25.2% of the deceased.