Premature STEMI in Men and Women: Current Clinical Features and Improvements in Management and Prognosis

Chest Pain: Wellens Syndrome Due to Spontaneous Dissection of the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery - A Case Report and Literature Review

Wellens syndrome is an abnormal electrocardiographic pattern characterized by biphasic (type A) or deeply inverted (type B) T waves in leads V2-V3. It is typically caused by temporary obstruction of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery due to the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque leading to occlusion. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome and even a rarer cause of Wellens Syndrome. It occurs when an intramural hematoma forms, leading to the separation of the tunica intima from the outer layers and creating a false lumen that protrudes into the real lumen, ultimately reducing blood flow and thus resulting in myocardial infarction. Here we report a case of SCAD presenting as an acute coronary syndrome with self-resolving chest pain, slightly elevated myocardial necrosis markers and electrocardiographic changes consistent with Wellens pattern type A first, and type B afterwards, that were not present upon arrival to the emergency department.

STEMI in women. Life expectancy recovery after primary percutaneous coronary intervention

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Despite medical advances, mortality after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains high. Women are often underrepresented in trials and registries, limiting knowledge of their management and prognosis. It is unknown whether life expectancy in women of all ages treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is similar to that in a reference population free of the disease. The main objective of this study was to determine whether life expectancy in women undergoing PPCI and surviving the main event returns to a similar level to that in the general population of the same age and region.

METHODS

We included all patients diagnosed with STEMI from January 2014 to October 2021. We matched women to a reference population of the same age and region from the National Institute of Statistics to determine observed survival, expected survival, and excess mortality (EM) using the Ederer II method. We repeated the analysis in women aged ≤ 65 and> 65 years.

RESULTS

A total of 2194 patients were recruited, of whom 528 were women (23.9%). In women surviving the first 30 days, EM at 1, 5 and 7 years was 1.6% (95%CI, 0.3-4), 4.7% (95%CI, 0.3-10.1), and 7.2% (95%CI, 0.5-15.1), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

EM was reduced in women with STEMI who were treated with PPCI and who survived the main event. However, life expectancy remained lower than that in a reference population of the same age and region.

Risk factors, clinical features, and outcomes of premature acute myocardial infarction

AIMS

To investigate the risk factors, clinical features, and prognostic factors of patients with premature acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of patients with AMI included in data from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2011 to 2019 was divided into premature AMI (aged < 55 years in men and < 65 years in women) and non-premature AMI. Patients' demographics, laboratory tests, Electrocardiography (ECG), cardiac ultrasound, and coronary angiography reports were collected. All-cause death after incident premature MI was enumerated as the primary endpoint.

RESULTS

Among all 8,942 AMI cases, 2,513 were premature AMI (79.8% men). Compared to the non-premature AMI group, risk factors such as smoking, dyslipidemia, overweight, obesity, and a family history of coronary heart disease (CHD) were more prevalent in the premature AMI group. The cumulative survival rate of patients in the premature AMI group was significantly better than the non-premature AMI group during a mean follow-up of 4.6 years (HR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.22-0.32, p < 0.001). Low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (Adjusted HR 3.00, 95% CI 1.85-4.88, P < 0.001), peak N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level (Adjusted HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.18-1.52, P < 0.001) and the occurrence of in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) (Adjusted HR 2.36, 95% CI 1.45-3.85, P = 0.001) were predictors of poor prognosis in premature AMI patients.

CONCLUSION

AMI in young patients is associated with unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Low LVEF, elevated NT-proBNP peak level, and the occurrence of in-hospital MACCEs were predictors of poor prognosis in premature AMI patients.

Gender Differences in All-Cause Mortality after Acute Myocardial Infarction: Evidence for a Gender-Age Interaction

Gender difference studies in mortality after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have shown inconsistent results. A total of 13,104 patients from the KAMIR-NIH between November 2011 and December 2015 were classified into young (n = 3837 [29.3%]) and elderly (n = 9267 [70.7%]) patients. For the study, women <65 and men <55 years of age were considered “young”. In the adjusted model of the entire cohort, there was no significant difference in three-year all-cause mortality between women and men (17.8% vs. 10.3%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.953; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.799–1.137). However, when the entire cohort was subdivided into two age groups, young women showed an 84.3% higher mortality rate than young men (adjusted HR, 1.843; 95% CI, 1.098–3.095). Contrariwise, elderly women patients had a 20.4% lower hazard of mortality compared with elderly men (adjusted HR, 0.796; 95% CI, 0.682–0.929). The interaction of gender with age was significant, even after multiple adjustments (adjusted p for interaction = 0.003). The purpose of this study was to assess whether gender differences depend on the patients’ age. Based on our analysis, higher mortality of young women remains even in the contemporary era of AMI. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these differences is warranted.