In Japan, the incidence of cardiac morbidity among patients with ischemic heart diseases has been reported to be 13.2-16.4%, and that of perioperative myocardial infarction in these patients about 1%. We investigated the perioperative morbidity and mortality due to coronary ischemia by using data from an annual survey concerning anesthesia-related critical incidents, conducted by the Committee on Operating Room Safety, Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists. In this survey, coronary ischemia was divided into intraoperative pathological events (coronary ischemia as intraoperative event) and preoperative complication (coronary ischemia as preoperative complication). The former consists of coronary ischemia which developed in patients without preoperative diagnosis of ischemic heart diseases or which was induced by surgical and/or anesthetic procedures. The latter was coronary ischemia developed in patients with preoperative diagnosis of ischemic heart diseases. From January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2001, 3,020,021 patients were registered from certified training hospitals of Japanese Society of the Anesthesiologists in the survey. Among them 1,918 episodes of intraoperative cardiac arrest and 2,054 deaths (within 7th postoperative days) were reported. Of these 7.5% and 6.3% of cardiac arrests were due to coronary ischemia as intraoperative event and as preoperative complication, respectively. Death was due to coronary ischemia as intraoperative event in 4.0% and as preoperative complication in 5.1%. The occurrence of critical incidents (cardiac arrest and the other life-threatening events) due to both types of coronary ischemia depended on ASA-PS. The percentage of coronary ischemia as preoperative complication was higher in emergency patients than in elective patients. The percentage of coronary ischemia as intraoperative event was almost the same between emergency and elective patients. Both types of coronary ischemia developed most frequently in cardiac/aortic surgeries, followed by thoracotomy with or without laparotomy. The number of critical incidents due to coronary ischemia as preoperative complication was the largest in emergency cardiac/aortic surgeries, followed by elective non-cardiac surgeries. The number of critical incidents due to coronary ischemia as intraoperative event was the largest in elective non-cardiac, especially open abdominal, surgeries in patients with ASA-PS 1(E) + 2(E). Among the patients with ASA-PS 1(E) + 2(E) who underwent non-cardiac surgeries 13.9% of deaths were due to coronary ischemia as preoperative complication and 12.5% as intraoperative event. It should be noted that many critical incidents due to coronary ischemia as intraoperative event during laparotomy developed in patients anesthetized by inhalation anesthesia combined with epidural, spinal or conduction block. Prognosis of cardiac arrest due to coronary ischemia as preoperative complication was the worst: 47.1% of these patients died. The best prognosis was found in critical incidents other than cardiac arrest due to coronary ischemia as intraoperative event with mortality of 12.3%. The results show that quality improvement from the standpoint of intraoperative coronary ischemia is required.