The causes of Myocardial Infarction (MI) may depend on environemental and genetic risk factors in young patients.

The aim of the study was to describe the risk factors and genetic features in young patients with MI and compare these findings to those identified in older patients.

This prospective study was conducted within the Department of Cardioloy in conjunction with the cellular pathology lab at the University Hospital of Casablanca between November 2012 and August 2017. Patients aged less than 45years with MI (group I) were compared to patients older than 55years with MI (group II). The genetic study focused on the contribution of 8 genes.

We included 140 patients of which 70 were≤45 years. The mean age of the younger cohort was 37.87 years vs. 64.21 years in group (II) .Both groups were predominantly male. In group (I), smoking was the most frequent risk factor 61.8% vs. 38.2% (P=0.007). Hypertension was common in group II (60,7% vs. 39,3%; P=0.02). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of diabetes,obesity and dyslipidemia. This study demonstrated an association of genetic predisposition factors involved in lipid metabolism (APOAV genotypes, APOE), endothelial dysfunction (MTHFR gene variants, eNOS) and coagulation cascade (FV genes, FII). The analysis revealed six polymorphisms with a significant correlation to an increased risk of MI in young subjects. There were no statistically significant correlations between the FV gene polymorphisms and risk factors such as age,gender, diabetes, smoking, and dyslipidemia. However, a statistically significant correlation regarding hypertension and obesity was identified (P=0.02 and P=0.032 respectively)

The results in this study indicate that genetic variations, although uncommon, are correlated to an increased risk of MI in this cohort. Further studies are needed to further investigate this conclusion.