Different Clinical Presentations in Chinese People with Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of younger- (≤45 years old) and older-aged (>45 years) Chinese patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with an initial acute myocardial infarction (AMI). A retrospective review of 372 patients who had suffered an AMI (134 younger-aged, 238 older-aged), from 2,858 suspected AMI or ischemia patients during the period January 1996 to June 2003 inclusive, was conducted. Only patients who were diagnosed with AMI and who had been admitted to our institution's ED were enrolled into this study. The incidence of AMI for individuals who were ≤ 45 years old was approximately 12.3% of those admitted to hospital under the impression of AMI. The percentage of males was more predominant in the younger-aged group ( p