This paper presents psychological and emotional characteristics that were found common to patients that underwent a first coronary angioplasty at Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia. We studied 84 patients of both sexes, with mean age of 55 years. Two semi-directed interviews were conducted by the psychology team, and during each of them the State-Trait - Anxiety Inventory STAI and the Hamilton Scale were applied. Such interviews were conducted immediately before PTCA and repeated one day after it, at patient's discharge. We concluded that most patients had a type A personality, typical of patients with coronary artey disease, high constitutional stress and anxiety-trace higher than the average population. There was also a high incidence of tension, depression, competitivity and humor lability.
myocardial revascularization; angioplasty, coronary; psychological profile