Circadian variation in the frequency of onset of chest pain in acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

The time of onset of chest pain was studied prospectively in 1154 consecutive patients admitted to a coronary care unit with myocardial infarction during a five year period. Statistical analysis confirmed a previous finding in a retrospective study of a bimodal frequency distribution with peaks in the time of onset of chest pain between 2330 and 0030 hours and between 0630 and 0830 hours.