BMJ 1998;317:1152 ( 24 October )

Letters

Secondary prevention in acute myocardial infarction

    Data cited from two studies were inaccurate
    Authors' reply
    Diet containing oil-rich fish confers more benefit than some pharmacological regimens
    Long term insulin treatment is important in secondary prevention in diabetic patients
    Verapamil is alternative to beta  blockers in patients without congestive heart failure
    Clinicians must promote value of diet containing oil-rich fish

Data cited from two studies were inaccurate

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Mehta and Eagle's review of secondary prevention in acute myocardial infarction contains some important errors.1 Firstly, in table 3 the relative risks of death cited for references 17, 18, and 20 are in fact percentage reductions in mortality divided by 100. These figures are so out of keeping with the rest of the table that it is surprising they were not spotted earlier. Even as percentage mortality reductions they are inaccurate. In the original paper by Pfeffer et al (ref 17) the 21% reduction observed referred to cardiovascular rather than total mortality, and the 95% confidence interval was 5% to 35% rather than to 25%. Pfeffer et al calculated a 19% reduction in total mortality (95% confidence interval 3% to 32%, P=0.019),2 although a crude calculation gives 17%.

Secondly, the data cited from the paper by Ambrosioni et al (ref 20) refer to a combined end point (death or severe congestive heart failure) . . . [Full text of this article]
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