2011 to 2022 Saw Increase in STEMI Mortality in Young Adults

TUESDAY, March 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Among young adults, first ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in-hospital mortality increased from 2011 to 2022, according to a study published online Feb. 26 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Mohan Satish, M.D., from New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and colleagues examined first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalizations among young adults aged 18 to 54 years from 2011 to 2022 in the United States, stratified by subtype and sex. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality by first AMI-subtype; secondary outcomes included in-hospital complications.

Of the 945,977 weighted first AMI hospitalizations in young adults, 37.6 and 62.4 percent were STEMI and non-STEMI, respectively. The researchers found that across the study period, adjusted in-hospital mortality increased significantly for first STEMI (1.2 percent absolute increase) and was unchanged for first non-STEMI (0.2 percent absolute decrease). Higher in-hospital mortality was seen for young women than young men (STEMI: 3.1 versus 2.6 percent; non-STEMI: 1.0 versus 0.8 percent); they experienced similar in-hospital complications with lower receipt of cardiovascular procedures. More nontraditional than traditional risk factors were independently associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality, regardless of sex.

“Improving heart attack outcomes in adults younger than age 55, particularly women, will require earlier risk identification and consideration of nontraditional risk factors to improve treatment,” Satish said in a statement. “Future studies need to consider how nontraditional risk factors impart heart attack risk along with their impact on traditional risk factors.”

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