22 years old with coronary artery blockage
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu - Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital - said that he had met a heart attack patient who was only 22 years old. Notably, the patient had damage to all 3 branches of the coronary artery, in which the anterior ventricular artery was completely blocked from the beginning.
According to Assoc. Prof. Hieu, nearly 30 years ago, the case of a 30-year-old patient with myocardial infarction was considered quite special. However, nowadays, myocardial infarction in young people is no longer too rare.
In people under 30 years old, atherosclerosis is not necessarily the main cause. Therefore, when receiving young patients with myocardial infarction, doctors need to look for many other causes.
One of them is spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). This condition occurs when the coronary artery wall is damaged, creating a false lumen or hematoma in the vascular wall, causing blood flow to the heart muscle to narrow or block. SCAD can occur in young women, including those who are previously healthy and do not smoke.
The disease may be related to strong emotional stress, overexertion, pregnancy, or postpartum periods.
Coronary artery spasm is also a factor to note. This condition is common in young people who smoke cigarettes, e-cigarettes, often stay up late or use a lot of caffeine and energy drinks.
Stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamine, synthetic drugs and some other addictive substances can also cause coronary artery spasm, blood clotting disorders, thereby increasing the risk of myocardial infarction.
Blood clotting disorders such as antiphospholipid syndrome, protein C and S deficiency, or some autoimmune diseases can cause abnormal blood clots to form and cause coronary artery blockage.
Another group of causes is congenital abnormality of the coronary arteries. Some people have abnormal coronary arteries originating or traveling between large blood vessels. When exercising at high intensity, the heart beats faster and oxygen demand increases, blood flow through the coronary arteries may not meet the needs of the heart muscle.
Young people can still have myocardial infarction due to atherosclerosis
After excluding special causes, doctors still need to think about atherosclerosis, especially when cardiovascular disease is tending to rejuvenate.
Risk factors that can silently exist for many years include smoking, e-cigarettes, an early family history of cardiovascular disease, family dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and high blood pressure. Notably, a young person with only one prominent risk factor, such as family dyslipidemia, can still experience serious cardiovascular events.
Myocardial infarction in young people is also easily overlooked because patients often do not think they may have the disease. Symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, and sweating may be mistaken for gastroesophageal reflux, muscle pain, stress, or anxiety. In the early stages, electrocardiograms and heart enzymes may also not be clearly shown, causing patients to be sent home for monitoring and only return when heart muscle damage has progressed.
According to Assoc. Prof. Hieu, young people with risk factors need to proactively check and treat, and at the same time quit smoking and nicotine-containing products. When you are exhausted and experience chest pain or tightness, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness..., you should not be subjective and assume that it is just normal fatigue.
A young person does not mean there is no risk of myocardial infarction. When there are suspicious symptoms, it is necessary to go to a medical facility as soon as possible for evaluation.
