For 7 years before his final hospital admission, a 52 year old man had several episodes of "fainting", but no chest pain. There was an abnormality on an electrocardiogram (ECG), but no evidence of myocardial infarction (commonly known as a "heart attack"). A diagnosis of coronary arterial narrowing was made. For 3 years he had been treated for high blood pressure, and for 3 months had suffered chest pain on exertion (angina). For the week prior to admission he had suffered chest pain at rest, and the pain had been persistent for 5 hours before admission. On examination, pulse 66/min; blood pressure 150/110 (upper limit of normal is 140/90). There was no evidence of heart failure. ECG showed evidence of an area of dead heart muscle (myocardial infarction). He appeared to be improving, but had a sudden cardiac arrest, and died 15 days after admission.