THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CORONARY DEATH FOR THE EXCESS MORTALITY IN ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT MEN

General and validated cause-specific mortality, especially regardingcoronary disease, was studied in a population-based cohort of1049 alcohol-dependent (DSM-III-R) men, who were dischargedfrom a detoxification ward. The observed and expected numbersof deaths were 140 and 23.2. respectively (P<0.001). Theestimated risk quotient of death was 6.0 (95% confidence interval5.1–7.1). The concordance between revised and officialcauses of death was {small tilde}50%, but the resulting variationof risk quotients of cause-specific deaths generally remainedwithin the statistical uncertainty. Coronary disease contributedto 19% of the total excess mortality in cases with a validateddefinite death diagnosis. The risk of coronary death tendedto be augmented during the first 2 years of discharge (P%0.05).Thus, coronary death contributed significantly to the excessmortality in alcohol-dependent men, and an increased vulnerabilityfor sudden coronary death seemed to persist for a considerabletime after discharge from detoxification.