[Autopsy clinicopathologic comparison in different age groups of patients with coronary atherosclerosis]

To explore the features of coronary atherosclerosis among the patients at different ages and examine their risk factors and pathological characteristics.

Retrospective analysis was performed for the clinicopathologic data of 87 patients with coronary atherosclerosis confirmed through autopsy from February 1986 to December 2011 at our hospital. They were divided into 3 groups according to age (20 - < 40 years, n = 12; 40 - < 60 years, n = 24; ≥ 60 years, n = 51). Comparative analysis was performed for the degree of coronary artery stenosis and cardiac pathological changes, vulnerable plaque occurrence and morphological features of acute coronary syndrome among different patient groups.

There were 56 males and 31 females with a mean age of 66.8 years (range: 23 - 80). Great statistical differences existed in the degree of coronary artery stenosis between different genders (P < 0.05) while there was no significant difference among the above age groups (P > 0.05). In the above age groups of patients with acute coronary syndrome, the incidence of big lipid core was 23.5%, 38.5% and 53.8% (χ(2) = 6.282, P = 0.043), that of thin fibrous cap 29.4%, 41.0% and 58.8% (χ(2) = 6.589, P = 0.037), that of inflammatory cell in 2 filtration 58.8%, 69.2% and 85.0% (χ(2) = 7.435, P = 0.024) and that of calcification formation 35.3%, 56.4% and 71.3% respectively (χ(2) = 8.599, P = 0.014). And the incidence of vulnerable plaque occurrence was 76.5%, 84.6% and 88.8% (χ(2) = 1.850, P = 0.397) in the above age groups.

The features and risk factors of coronary atherosclerosis are different according to different ages and genders. Thus we should pay more attention to the early diagnosis and reasonable treatments of young patients and those with both mild coronary stenosis and vulnerable plaque.