Postmortem Examinations for the Etiological Identification of Juvenile Coronary Arteriosclerosis

The postmortem of suddenly deceased younger adults sometimes reveals that they experienced manifest coronary arteriosclerosis. We looked at 21 cases where stenosis of the coronary arteries was at least 50%. We supplemented our postmortem findings and the results from the postmortem identification of the lipid metabolism parameters with anamnestic details. We also conducted a genetic analysis. The risk factors such as smoking and family history were relatively frequent. In most of our cases, the postmortems showed significantly deviating lipid metabolism parameters. Compared to these findings, the genetic analyses only showed a clearly increased presence of APOE genotypes 3/4, whereas we observed no abnormalities in relation to the LDL receptor. The study results illustrate the multifactor genesis of premature coronary arteriosclerosis. Despite these limitations, the unexpected finding of juvenile coronary arteriosclerosis should entail an effort to establish the individual risk factors involved as this can provide vital information for medically advising other members of the family on their hereditary risks.