Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in young patients.

Methods We carried out the contrasting analysis in the clinical data between 45 young patients (age≤45 years old) and 52 old patients (age≥60 years old).

Results Young AMI patients were often male, and had the typical clinical manifestations. The smoking rate hyperfibrinogenemia rate and positive family history rate of the young people group were markedly higher than those of the old people group (p<0.05). The morbidity rate of patients with single coronary artery atherosclerosis was high in the young people group. The morbidity rate of patients with multiple coronary artery atherosclerosis was high in the old people group. The patients in the old people group who complicated with cardiac aneurysm, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiac shock were much more than those in the young people group (p<0.05).

Conclusion Smoking, hyperfibrinogenemia and positive family history are main causes of AMI in young patients. Young AMI patients had the typical clinical manifestations with simple coronary lesion. The complications in the young people group are less than those in the old people group, and the prognosis was better than old cases.