Plasma Myeloperoxidase at the Culprit Coronary Lesion in Acute Myocardial Infarction

winter hospitalisations (EWH) and whether this applied to all subcategories of CVD. Methods:We obtained CVD data (ICD.9 principal diagnosis code 390-459 and ICD.10 code I00-I99) from the New Zealand Health Information Service, including all deaths (1988–2005) and hospitalisations (1988–2007). We derived EWM and EWH for each subcategory of CVD using the ratio between episodes in the winter months (June, July and August) comparedwith summer (December, January, February). We excluded inter-hospital transfers, readmissionswithin30days,plannedadmissionsanddaypatients. Results:Over this period there were 207,012 deaths and 757,870 hospitalisations coded as CVD (42% and 8.8% of the total deaths and admissions, respectively). Mortality andmorbidityweredominatedbycoronarydisease (56.9% and 39.7%) and stroke (23.4% and 14.6%); heart failure also contributing substantially to admissions (13.8%). All 14 subcategories of CVD with total deaths >100 showed EWM with ratios >1.0, most notable being cardiac infections (1.43), heart failure (1.42) and coronary disease (1.32). Similarly all classes showed EWH, especially heart failure (ratio 1.47) although ratios for other diagnostic categories were smaller. Conclusion: All types of CVD deaths and hospitalisations are markedly higher in winter with greater differences among the sickest patients—those dying and those with heart failure. Further research will help to Results:Maori had a higher CHD incidence and higher case fatality than non-Maori. Maori developed CHD at a younger age (medians 56.5 years for males and 58.8 years for females) than non-Maori (medians 67.5 and 77.5, respectively). The lifetime risk of CHD for Maori (36% for males and 34% for females) was only slightly higher than that for the non-Maori population (35% and 28%, respectively) despite higherMaori CHD incidence. This appears to reflect increased age-specificmortality for non-CHD illnesses as well as CHD. Duration of survival with CHD in Maori (9.2 years) was similar to that of the non-Maori population formales (9.5 years) but longer for females (11.2 vs. 6.2 years), which is most likely related to the earlier age of onset in the Maori population. Conclusions: CHD has a markedly higher impact in Maori and at younger ages than in the wider population identifying areas requiring prioritisation. doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2009.04.051