Myocardial infarction in young population: An increasing trend

Objective: To define the correlation of clinical features with the angiographic findings in young patients (≤40 years) who presented to our institute with angina symptoms and also have an idea of disease burden in our community. Methods and results: A retrospective study was conducted over a 5 year period from 2010 to 2015. One hundred and twenty nine consecutive patients <40 years of age were admitted for evaluation and were reviewed. The mean age was 37.7 years (range 28-40), 76.7% (99) were males and 23.3% (30) were females. This was similar to the figures for more than 40 years cohort, 74.1% males and 25.9% females. Sixty two percent were urban and 13.2% were non-Kashmiri security forces. Predominant presentation was acute myocardial infarction (47.3%) followed by angina on effort (44.2%), atypical chest pain (7%), and unstable angina (1.6%). Among males 59.5% had angiographically documented coronary artery disease while only 23% of females had coronary artery disease documented. Three females presented with anterior wall myocardial infarction secondary to infective endocarditis, spontaneous left main coronary dissection and takotsubo cardiomyopathy respectively. Conclusion: The study focuses our attention on rising prevalence of coronary artery disease in young individuals from urban communities. Symptomatic males may need thorough early evaluation, young females presenting with myocardial infarction should be evaluated for non-atherosclerotic etiologies. Keywords: Myocardial infarction; young population; coronary artery disease