A case report of coronary artery disease in a teenage girl

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in most parts of the world. This disorder affects mostly patients above the age 40 years. This case report introduces a 17 years old girl with early development of coronary artery disease who had severe coronary atherosclerosis that did not respond to medical and interventional treatment and underwent surgical operation in cardiac surgery department of Shahid Madani Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. Presence of risk factors for atherosclerosis were evaluated and the only findings were positive family history of cardiac death in her uncle at about 52 years of age and high level of lipoprotein (a) in one of her sisters. In follow up evaluation of this patient, high levels of lipoprotein (a) was documented which was controlled with medical therapy. We concluded that high level of lipoprotein (a) was the probable cause of atherosclerosis in this patient. This case report emphasizes the need to screen siblings of patients with premature myocardial infarction.