Smoking, Alcohol and Coronary Artery Occlusion – A Morgue Based Study

Abstract

The occlusion of the coronaries is an important factor in development of ischemic heart disease and occurrence of myocardial infarction.  Smoking and alcohol are known risk factors in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and subsequent development of coronary artery  occlusion. The present study was conducted at Police Mortuary attached to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, R.G.  Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata. The dependent variable was the occlusion of the coronary arteries and the independent variable  were the history of smoking addiction, history of alcohol addiction, history of coronary vascular disease in both cases of smoking addiction  and alcohol addiction. The study also has its foothold in the Department of Pathology at the same institute. Of all the 50 cases autopsied,  history of addiction of smoking or alcohol or both was present in 40 cases (80% cases) and absent in 10 cases (20% cases). Out of the total  36 cases of alcohol addiction, 28 cases (77.78%) had a history of coronary vascular disease, whereas 8 cases (22.22%) had no history of  coronary vascular disease. Among the 27 cases having both alcohol and smoking addiction, critical narrowing (>60% blockage) was seen  in 16 cases (59.26% cases) whereas in 11 cases (40.74% cases) non-critical narrowing (<60% blockage) was seen. The severity of  occlusion is more in cases having concomitant addiction of both smoking and alcohol.