Coronary heart disease drops 31 percent

The number of patients admitted to hospitals for treatment of coronary heart disease declined 31 percent from 1997-2007, U.S. health officials said.

A report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, Md., also said that as a result of the decline, coronary heart disease no longer ranks as the leading disease treated in hospitals but ranks No. 3. Heart failure was ranked at No. 2 and pneumonia is the most common disease treated in hospitals, the report said.

Hospitalizations for heart attack declined by 15 percent, from 732,000-625,000, during the study period. Hospitalizations for stroke fell 14 percent, from 616,000-527,000 and a drop in rank from No. 6 to No. 15.

In contrast, hospitalizations for irregular heart beat, such as atrial fibrillation or tachycardia rose by 28 percent from 572,000-731,000. Hospitalizations for congestive heart failure rose by 3 percent, going from 991,000 to a just over 1 million.