Near-Fatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in a Young Patient With Occlusive Coronary Artery Disease

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) due to obstructive coronary artery disease in young patients is an unusual event. Its clinical pattern somewhat differs from that of elderly patients, thus placing them at an increased risk of misdiagnosis, as this young population typically does not demonstrate the traditional risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. We report the case of a 35-year-old man who presented with new-onset chest pain leading to cardiac arrest and was found to have 100% occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, which was successfully managed with the placement of a drug-eluting stent. We briefly reviewed the literature and noted that to reduce the risk of dramatic outcomes, it is imperative to include acute MI in the differential diagnosis of young patients presenting with chest pain, regardless of the presence or absence of any identifiable risk factor.