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Abstract

Introduction


Despite recent encouraging declines in the mortality rate in both developed and developing countries, Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) remains a preeminent cause of death and disability. While numerous modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors have been associated with an increase risk of coronary disease. Many studies in the past decade have demonstrated diurnal variation in the onset of acute cardiovascular disorders, such as myocardial ischemia1-3, acute myocardial infarction (AMI)4-8 cardiac arrhythmias9,10 and sudden cardiac death.11-13 These results consistently support the view that there is an increased incidence of acute cardiac events in the morning hours and a low incidence at nights as judged on the basis of cardiac symptoms. The present study also examines that a significant circadian variation exist in the onset of symptoms of Acute Myocardial Infarction in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The hypothesis of this study was that more than 50% of the patients with AMI present in the morning hours.