Coronary artery disease among young drivers (<40 years): Occupational hazard or air pollution driving it?

Aims: To study clinico-social, biochemical and angiographic profile of patients presenting with premature coronary artery disease (PCAD) who are drivers by profession. To highlight the impact of occupational hazard and air pollution in them. Subjects and Methods: Of 3450 patients registered in the PCAD registry till date, 755 (21.88%) were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria. The data was analyzed by statistical software R version 3.5.0. Further analysis of smokers versus nonsmokers was done. Results: The average age of the group was 33.10 years. Almost all 754 (99.8%) were males, of which 323 (42.78%) smoked. The group had 83 (10.95%) diabetics and 71 (9.4%) hypertensives. Around 99 (13.11%) had a family history of coronary artery disease (CAD). Majority of them, 440 (58.27%), were urban drivers with average driving of 10 h/day. In the group, 482 (63.8%) had abnormal body mass index (BMI) and 539 (71.41%) had abdominal obesity. Low HDL was seen in 508 (67%) patients. ST-elevation myocardial infarction was the most common presentation in 415 (54.96%). Obstructive atherosclerotic CAD was seen in 217 (34.22%). Further analysis of smokers versus nonsmokers showed that hypertension, diabetes, and abnormal BMI were less common among nonsmokers, indicating the probable role of air pollution in them. Conclusions: Occupational hazard due to the stress related to prolonged driving hours, obesity, smoking and the possible role of air pollution are the important cardiovascular (CV) risks which come to light in this group of patients. Furthermore, the majority of them presented with predominant thrombotic lesions, however, smokers, who also had other CV risk factors, presented more often with obstructive atherosclerotic CAD.