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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may develop in the aftermath of an acute myocardial infarction (MI). Whether PTSD is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is elusive. The biological mechanisms linking PTSD with atherosclerosis are unclear.

A critical review of 31 studies in the English language pursuing three aims: (i) to estimate the prevalence of PTSD in post-MI patients; (ii) to investigate the association of PTSD with cardiovascular endpoints; and (iii) to search for low-grade systemic inflammatory changes in PTSD pertinent to atherosclerosis.

We located studies by PubMed electronic library search and through checking the bibliographies of these sources.

The weighted prevalence of PTSD after MI was 14.7% (range 0–25%; a total of 13 studies and 827 post-MI patients). Two studies …