A new study examining why young South Asian myocardial infarction (MI) patients have more adverse outcomes found this patient population was often obese, used tobacco products, and had a family history of MI or risk factors that could have been prevented, monitored for or treated before a MI occurred. The study will be presented during the ACC Asia 2021 Together with SCS 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting Virtual, taking place July 9 – 11.

Researchers examined MI patients less than 45 years old who underwent primary PCI between 2013-2019. Patients with previous MI or revascularization were excluded, leaving a total of 165 patients. The patient population was 90.3% male; 48.3% were obese; 45% were tobacco-users; and 48.4% had family history of ischemic heart disease.

For patients with delayed presentation at the hospital (more than four hours), 27.3% experienced delayed discharge of more than five days. Thirty-day all-cause mortality was seen in six patients. According to the researchers, learning more about the common clinical, prognostic features and differences in young South Asian MI patients could have important clinical, as well as quality of life implications, for this patient population.

"South Asians tend to have multiple co-morbidities including diabetes and obesity at younger ages which is different from the white population," said Salik ur Rehman Iqbal, MBBS, the study's lead investigator. "This can impact the complexity of coronary lesions and success of revascularization. Moreover, due to lack of awareness and system delays, a significant proportion of patients present to the hospital late translating into adverse outcomes."

He adds that moving forward, "Targeting modifiable risk factors, creating awareness and decreasing system delays should be our goals towards reducing the cardiovascular risk in this population."

In a separate study being presented by the investigators at ACC Asia 2021, the researchers examined 23 young South Asian women who presented with MI at Aga Khan University Hospital between 2013 and 2020. The median age was 41 years, 53% had uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes and 50% were obese. A positive family history of ischemic heart disease was found in a third of the patients as was a history of high blood pressure. No patients reported smoking.

The ACC is partnering with the Singapore Cardiac Society (SCS) to host the ACC Asia 2021 Together With SCS 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting Virtual. Led by conference co-chairs, Fred M. Kusumoto, MD, FACC, and Kian Keong Poh, MBBChir, FACC, the meeting brings together experts from around the Asia Pacific region and world to discuss, share and critique the latest in cardiovascular prevention and care. On-demand access will be available through Oct. 31. Also stay up to date throughout the course via social media using the hashtag #ACCAsia and following @ACCinTouch.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team, Invasive Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, Prevention, Hypertension, Smoking

Keywords: ACC International, Tobacco, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Cardiovascular Diseases, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Myocardial Infarction, Hypertension, Smoking, Obesity, Heart Diseases, Risk Factors

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