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Heart attacks can occur in teenagers
Although quite rare, heart attacks can occur in adolescents without heart defects; and a case series reported by two cardiologists from The Heart Center at Akron Children's Hospital, Ohio, serves as a of reminder this.
Reporting in the current issue of Pediatrics, Drs. John R. Lane and Giora Ben-Shachar describe nine healthy adolescents (eight boys and one girl), ages 12 to 20 years, who developed severe chest pains and met the criteria for a diagnosis of heart attack.
Heart attacks in teens are "obviously rare but not an impossible diagnosis," Lane said. When an adolescent develops severe chest pain typical of a heart attack, it should not be dismissed lightly.
Lane also noted that this is a "different disease" than heart attacks in adults - the young patients did not have any obvious risk factors, they had normal coronary arteries and they tended to recover without any long-term problems.
Source: Pediatrics, September 2007
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