[Changes in coronary angiography in young patients with myocardial infarction]

To assess the coronariographic changes and left ventricular function of a group of young patients (pts) (less than 40 years) with myocardial infarction.

Retrospective analysis on clinical data and cineangiography.

Patients studied in the Cardiology Department and Cardiothoracic Department of the Santa Marta Hospital in Lisbon.

Sequential sample of 40 pts 39 male and one female submitted to coronariography after an acute myocardial infarction (mean age--34 +/- 3 years).

Twenty one pts had one vessel disease, 6 pts two vessel disease, 3 pts three vessel disease, 1 left main disease (2.5%) and 9 normal coronary arteries. More than a half (22) had a lesion on the left anterior descending artery (proximal in 12-30%), 13 a lesion on the right coronary artery (proximal in 3) and 8 on the circunflex coronary artery. There were 22 (55%) total occlusions (3 of the circunflex, 9 of the left anterior descending artery and 10 of the right coronary artery). Of these 8 were proximal. We divided the pts according to the regional contractility score in three groups. Most of them had a moderate decrease in contractility. Three pts had an apical aneurysm and 8 pts had apical discinesia. Three of these 11 pts had no significant coronary lesions, six had one vessel disease and 6 had a proximal lesion of the left anterior descending artery. The mean ejection was 53% and none was less than 30%. There was a statistical difference of score and ejection fraction between anterior and inferior myocardial infarctions (6.5 +/- 1.8 versus 7.8 +/- 1.6 e 48 +/- 11.6 versus 55.4 +/- 10.8), p less than 0.05 and between those with and without a proximal lesion of the anterior descending coronary artery (5.5 +/- 1.5 versus 7.9 +/- 1.5 and 41.4 +/- 7.9 versus 56.3 +/- 9.9), p less than 0.0005. Neverthless, when we tried to separate the pts with or without atherosclerotic lesions (6.9 +/- 1.7 versus 7.9 +/- 2.2 and 50.4 +/- 11 versus 54.8 +/- 14.3) or with and without multivessel disease (7.2 +/- 1.8 versus 6.7 +/- 1.9 and 52.9 +/- 12.2 versus 46.6 +/- 8.7), no statistical difference of score and ejection fraction was found.

Young patients with myocardial infarction are predominantly males; - There is an important number of one vessel disease and in many patients no coronary significant lesions were found; - The functional changes depended more on the proximal location than on the number of diseased vessels.