Differences in Baseline Characteristics and Outcomes in Young Caucasians and African Americans with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in young patients is increasing. While race-related differences in clinical characteristics and outcomes for older AMI patients have been well-studied, such differences in young patients are unknown. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of charts of Caucasian and African American (AA) patients <50 years of age, presenting with AMI between 2010 and 2017 in an urban, community hospital in Detroit, Michigan. RESULTS: A total of 271 patients were identified with 156 being AAs (57.5%). Mean age was 43 years which was similar in both groups. AAs with AMI were 2.2 times more likely to be women and to have a history of diabetes and 1.2 times more likely to have BMI >30 kg/m2. History of coronary artery disease (1.8-fold) and hypertension (1.5-fold) were also more common in AAs. Overall presenting features were similar, other than that AAs presented more often with non-ST-elevation MI and tended to present less often with cardiac arrest. No differences were observed in the angiographic findings or in-hospital outcomes in the two groups, with the exception of lower need of mechanical support in AAs. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our data provide important, not previously described information on race-related differences in history, presentation, clinical and angiographic features and outcomes in AAs compared with Caucasians younger than 50 with AMI. These findings may have implications for tailoring specific preventive strategies to decrease the incidence of AMI and its associated adverse events in both racial groups.

Myocardial Infarction Secondary to Blunt Chest Trauma.

Myocardial infarction (MI) following blunt chest trauma is rare, but potentially fatal. We treated a young patient for acute MI after falling chest-first on ice while playing hockey. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was performed after percutaneous stenting attempts were unsuccessful. By reviewing the related literature, we found 179 cases, the majority of which affected young males following road accidents. Left anterior descending artery was most frequently affected followed by right coronary artery particularly in their proximal thirds. Prior to the advent of emergent angioplasty for MI, conservative management was frequently pursued, whereas subsequently both stenting and CABG were performed as initial therapy. Several cases required CABG after the failure of stenting attempts. Trauma-associated MI is uncommon but should be suspected to be properly diagnosed and managed; the potential need for CABG requires that a cardiac surgeon be informed at the time of angiography to avoid possible delay in revascularization.