RESUMO
This survey has revealed an unexpectedly high prevalence of angina pectoris and of electrocardiographic abnormalities usually interpreted as due to myocardial ischaemia or focal myocardial damage. The rarity of myocardial infarction caused by coronary artery occlusion in Jamaicans, as well as the lack of any clear relationship between myocardial damage and age, the association with high serum globulin levels, and the apparently increased prevalence in those with haemoglobinopathies suggest that its etiology is different from that of ischaemic heart disease due to atheroma of the coronary arteries. This study has raised a number of questions of which the most important concern the pathogenesis of the condition and its importance in terms of prognosis; it forms the base line for longitudinal investigation that may resolve some of the outstanding questions (AU)