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Background: Non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients presenting with occluded culprit artery (OCA) may be at higher risk for worse outcomes. We sought to compare in-hospital (IH) mortality between patients presenting with NSTEMI with and without OCA, and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)., Methods: This retrospective analysis studied 14,037 patients enrolled in the Portuguese National Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes. Three groups were defined: (A) STEMI (n = 8616); (B) OCA-NSTEMI (n = 1309); and (C) non-OCA NSTEMI (n = 4112). Baseline characteristics, therapeutic strategies, and outcomes were compared. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess the risk of IH all-cause mortality across the prespecified groups., Results: Twenty-four percent of NSTEMI patients presented with OCA. The left circumflex artery was more frequently the culprit artery in group B (12.4% A vs 34.5% B vs 26.0% C; P<.001) and this group was also less likely to receive percutaneous revascularization (95.2% A vs 69.7% B vs 83.2% C; P<.001). The incidence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction was higher in group A and lower in group C (19.9% A vs 12.2% B vs 8.1% C; P<.001). The adjusted risk of IH mortality was significantly higher in group A when compared with group B (3.9% A vs 1.8% B; odds ratio, 2.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.34-4.07; P<.01) and in group B when compared with group C (1.8% B vs 0.9% C; odds ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-4.35; P=.02)., Conclusion: OCA-NSTEMI patients had worse IH outcomes than non-OCA NSTEMI patients and better IH outcomes than STEMI patients, suggesting the existence of a continuum of increased risk of IH mortality across these groups.

Coronary artery disease rarely manifests itself in the first decades of life, which explains why this population is underrepresented in clinical studies. The mechanisms and natural history of the disease seem to differ between this population and older patients. Recent studies suggest a more rapid disease progression in youth, presenting more unstable atherosclerotic plaques, although this correlation has yet to be proven. In this paper, we present the case of a 41-year-old man who presented with a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, with percutaneous coronary intervention of the culprit lesion (70-90% lesion at bifurcation of the circumflex artery with the first marginal obtuse artery and a sub-occlusive lesion of the ramus intermedius). There was also a non-significant lesion (estimated at 30%) located in the left anterior descending coronary artery. Ten days after discharge, the patient suffered another non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. The coronary angiography revealed a surprising sub-occlusive lesion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Regarding this case, the authors reviewed the literature on the pathophysiology of rapidly progressive coronary artery disease and the approach for non-significant lesions in patients with acute coronary syndrome, especially in the younger population., (Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)