Eg. Abinader et al., The impact of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union on the severity of coronary angiographic findings in a public hospital in Israel, ISR MED ASS, 2(4), 2000, pp. 274-277
Background: The arrival of 610,000 pew immigrants tp Israel from the former
Soviet republics accounted for 58% of the population growth in the early 1
990s. Objective: To compare the coronary angiographic findings and risk fac
tors between the new immigrants and local Jewish and Arab patients in this
era of cost containment.
Methods and Results: A total of 550 consecutive patients - 314 Jews, 95 new
immigrants and 141 Arabs - were catheterized and analyzed during a 5 month
period in 1995. Of this group 403 were males (73%). The mean age was 63.6/-10.2 years among new immigrants, 62.4+/-9.4 among Jews, and 55.1+/-10.9 a
mong Arabs (P<0.05). Immigrants, including those under age 60, had the high
est prevalence of multivessel disease (88.7%). Arabs had a high prevalence
of single vessel disease (34.6%) and a low prevalence of multivessel (65.4%
) and left main coronary disease (5.6%). Age, gender, risk factors and ethn
ic origin in descending order were determinants of the extent of coronary a
ngiographic disease as revealed by multiple regression analysis.
Conclusion: New immigrants had the most extensive angiographic coronary inv
olvement, while Arab patients were younger and had less severe coronary art
ery disease. More intensive risk factor modification may have a major impac
t on disease progression particularly in the new immigrant subgroup.