MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN YOUNG VERSUS OLDER ADULTS: CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ANGIOGRAPHIC FEATURES

Authors

  • S. Sadiq Shah
  • Lubna Noor
  • Syed Habib Shah
  • Shah sawar
  • Shahab Ud Din
  • Zahid Aslam Awan
  • Muhammad Hafizullah

Abstract

Background: Coronary artery disease is now frequently encountered in young adult population.However, being a relatively uncommon entity, not many studies are available in this regard. Therefore,the present study was designed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and angiographic features ofpatients less than 40 years of age with a history of myocardial infarction and compare them to patientsolder than 40 years. Methods: A total of 281 patients who underwent coronary angiography fromApril, 2009 to December, 2009, were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groupson the basis of age. Group A included patients 40 years of age or younger. Group B included patientsolder than 40 years. Both the groups were compared with respect to gender, hypertension, diabetesmellitus and extent and severity of coronary artery disease as assessed on coronary angiography.Results: Of the total 281 patients, 45 (16%) were ≤40 years old (Group-A) and 236 (84%) were olderthan 40 years (Group-B). There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect tothe risk factors like gender, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. On coronary angiography, the twogroups neither differed in the number of totally occluded vessels, nor in the severity of the culpritlesion. There were only 3 patients in group-A (6.7%) and 5 patients in group-B (2.1%) with normalcoronaries (p=NS). Majority (60%) of the patients in group-A had no significant disease or singlevessel disease while majority (69%) of the patients in group-B had two or more vessels involved(p<0.001). As far as the number of lesions in the coronary arteries is concerned, 62.3% patients had 2 orlesser lesions in group-A while 68.6% patients in group-B had three or more lesions (p=0.001).Conclusion: These data suggest that in our study, young patients with MI do not have significantlyhigh prevalence of normal coronaries compared to older patients. Young patients are similar to theolder patients with respect to severity of CAD. Lesser number of coronaries is involved and there islesser number of lesions per patient in young patients compared to older ones.Keywords: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Myocardial infarction (MI), Coronary Angiography,Risk Factors

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Published

2010-06-01

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