Coronary arterial lesions in young men who survived a first myocardial infarction: clinical and electrocardiographic predictors of multivessel disease.

An analysis was made of clinical and electrocardiographic prognostic determinants of multiple vessel disease in 100 men, aged under 45 years, who survived a myocardial infarction. All patients underwent selective coronary arteriography within 1 year after sustaining a myocardial infarction. Multivessel disease was present in 64 patients; 33 patients had single vessel disease and 3 had either normal coronary arteries or minimal lesions. Exercise stress testing, electrocardiographic location of the infarction, total serum cholesterol and clinical features including body build, arterial blood pressure, smoking habits, family history of coronary artery disease and the presence of angina pectoris either before or after the acute event proved to be poor predictors of multiple vessel disease. Only 74 percent of the patients were correctly classified by a discriminant function analysis. Thus, for prognostic reasons, coronary arteriography seems warranted in young patients after acute myocardial infarction, even in the absence of residual angina or multiple risk factors.