Pilot study for the registration of acute myocardial infarction in the Liege area (Belgium)

Background: In 1998, a permanent registry of myocardial infarction was deve loped in the Liege area (Belgium) to provide updated, exhaustive and valida ted data on the morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular causes, to defi ne the patients' profile, to identify myocardial infarction therapeutic str ategies and to complete and make comparisons with data collected in other p arts of the country through methodologically identical registers. Methods: All acute coronary events lethal or non lethal among individuals f rom both genders aged from 25 to 69 years and living in the area were regis tered according to the methodology developed for the MONICA project (Multin ational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases) o f WHO. The three main selected data sources were: death certificates, gener al practitioners and cardiologists, hospitals. The events were categorised according to symptoms, cardiac enzymes, electrocardiogram, history of chron ic ischaemic heart disease and necropsy findings. Results: The coronary-event rates were 283/100,000 in men and 102/100,000 i n women. The case fatality rate, 28 days after the onset of the symptoms, w as 30.6% for men and 36.2% for women, and 77.5% of deaths occurred in the f irst 24 hours after the onset of the symptoms. Conclusion: The development of a myocardial infarction register at a region al level requires the involvement of all health professionals dealing with that pathology. Such register has valuable public health interests, providi ng exhaustive and validated data on the pathology and its evolution as well as useful information for improving therapeutic strategies and developing adapted preventive measures.