Section on Cardiovascular Diseases

In a previous post mortem study on sudden death from coronary artery disease in white males it was noted that individuals in sedentary occupations tended to have their fatal attacks more often at a younger age than those in more physically active occupations.1 Previously Morris in England had reported that the coronary occlusion attack rate was higher in the sedentary bus drivers as compared to the more active bus ticket collectors.2 The problem remains as to whether this difference in peak age incidence was based on the possibility that sedentary individuals developed atherosclerosis at a more rapid rate than physically active individuals, or whether other factors not necessarily directly part of the atherosclerotic process were implicated as well. In an attempt to partially clarify some aspects of this problem the degree of coronary atherosclerosis was studied at autopsy in normal white males between the ages of 30 and 60 who died suddenly from traffic or industrial accidents, and in whom verifiable occupational histories were available. The cases were obtained from a population group of consecutive Medical Examiner’s autopsies in Westchester County. This is part of a continuing post mortem study on coronary atherosclerosis. The character of this population group has been described in previous reports, as well as the details of the technique of the coronary artery examination and grading.3 However, in brief the coded hearts were fixed in formalin and the coronary arteries were sectioned at two mm. intervals, examined and graded by the same observer (DMS) throughout the entire study. The hearts were examined and graded without prior knowledge of the sex, age, race, occupation and mode of the death of the cases in question. Only after the grading of the coronary arteries was completed and recorded were these findings then related to the pertinent categories of information.