Evaluation and treatment of acute myocardial infarction complicating systemic lupus erythematosus.

Coronary artery disease has emerged as an important cause of death in young patients with SLE. We report three cases of acute myocardial infarction in young lupus patients who underwent emergent coronary angiography. One patient had a large coronary aneurysm and died five months later from myocarditis. The other two patients underwent coronary angioplasty. The difficulty in distinguishing coronary arteritis from premature atherosclerosis and its relevance to methods of treatment is discussed.