Access to cardiac catheterisation Influenced by deprivation, not sex

Feb 1, 1994 EDITOR, - F Kee and colleagues report the variation in rates of cardiac catheterisation among electoral wards in Northern Ireland and suggest that social deprivation has little influence on the rate once a proxy measure of clinical need has been taken into account. 1 We examined the relation between social class and rates of coronary artery bypass grafting in 7735 men aged 40-59 at entry to the British regional heart study, a prospective investigation of cardiovascular disease in 24 towns in England, Wales, and Scotland.