Characteristics of patients younger than 40 years of age operated for coronary artery disease

This study reviews data on 126 patients (107 men, 19 women) younger than 40 years of age who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting during an 8-year period. They were matched to a control group which also consisted of 126 operated patients but exceeding the age of 39. The majority of the patients in the study group presented with angina; 85.9% were CCS III or TV compared to 61.9% in the control group. More than 3 fourths of the patients (80.5%) had experienced at least 1 myocardial infarction. There was a high incidence of coronary risk factors, especially hyperlipoproteinemia (88.5%), smoking (85.1%), and hypertension (83.1%), whereas in the control group these risk factors occurred in only 49.2%, 21.4%, and 53.2% of the patients, respectively. Other risk factors like diabetes mellitus or family history of coronary artery disease were found in 10.3% and 48.6% of the young patients. While 23.0% of the patients had varying degrees of left main stenosis, 9.5%, 18.3%, and 72.2% had single, double, and triple vessel disease, respectively. Left ventriculograms showed serious functional impairment (ejection fraction less than 40%) in 22.2% of the patients. A total of 286 saphenous vein grafts (2.3 grafts per patient) and 126 internal mammarian grafts were implanted, whereby an internal mammarian graft was always used. In 6 patients we used an intermittent mechanical support system (intraaortic balloon pump in 5 patients and an assist device in 1). In-hospital mortality rate was 1.6% (2 patients); long-term mortality rate 5.2% (mean follow-up interval 54 +/- 20 months). Actuarial survival was 93.0%, 89.8%, and 89.8% at 3, 5, and 7 years, respectively. Survival in patients with normal and impaired ejection fraction was significantly different (p < 0.035) for 5-year and 7-year survival (100% vs. 81.8%). We observed encouraging intermediate term results in young adult patients after coronary revascularization. This may have been due to the consistent use of internal mammary artery grafts.