Association between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in children and young adults.

The severity of asymptomatic atherosclerosis is related to the number of cardiovascular risk factors in young people.

This study examined the relationship between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in young people. 204 subjects between the ages of 2 to 39 who died from trauma-related causes were studied for this research work. Several cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure, body mass index, the percentage of fibrous plaques and fatty streaks in aorta and coronary artery, and plasma concentrations of cholesterol, lipoproteins, and triglycerides were measured in 93 of the subjects while they were still alive. Upon death, researchers performed autopsies on all the subjects.

Researchers observed that the more the number of cardiovascular risk factors in a subject, the higher the percentage of fatty streaks and fibrous plaques in the coronary artery and aorta. Furthermore, more fibrous plaques and fatty streaks were found in older subjects. This results show that multiple cardiovascular risk factors and age increase the severity of asymptomatic aortic and coronary atherosclerosis in children and young adults.