Myocardial infarction in patients aged 40 years and below: an angiographic review.

Over a period of 27 months, 32 patients aged 40 and below were admitted for acute myocardial infarction. Twenty-nine had coronary angiography with a mean of 15.7 +/- 10.0 days following infarction. Fourteen patients had single vessel, 10 multi-vessel and 5 had only minor coronary disease. Disease in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery was more common than in the circumflex or right coronary artery (RCA), but myocardial infarction occurred with near equal frequency in both the LAD and RCA territories. Only 2 infarct-related vessels were collateralized. Spontaneous coronary dissection was detected in 2 patients. The left ventricular function was significantly impaired in about half of the patients.