• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.122-126
• /
• 2014

Coronary vasospasm is one of the fatal complications that may occur in patients undergoing open heart surgery. To date, however, there are not many cases in this series and no definite pathophysiology has been documented. We experienced a case of coronary artery vasospasm after atrial septal defect (ASD) surgery and then successfully treated it with both transbrachial intraaortic balloon pump and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support. Only several hours after ASD surgery, the patient exhibited the cardiovascular collapse, the ST-segment elevation, followed by ventricular fibrillation and normal coronary angiography findings. It is important to make a differential diagnosis of coronary artery vasospasm in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation who had no notable coronary artery diseases. This case indicates that clinicians should be aware of the possibility that the coronary artery vasospasm may also occur in patients undergoing ASD surgery.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.129-131
• /
• 2012

A 70-year-old male came to the emergency room of the authors' hospital because of sudden cardiac arrest due to inferior wall ST elevation myocardial infarction. His coronary angiography revealed multiple severe coronary spasms in his very long left anterior descending artery. After an injection of intracoronary nitroglycerine, his stenosis improved. The cardiac arrest relapsed, however, accompanied by ST elevation of the inferior leads, while the patient was on diltiazem and nitrate medication to prevent coronary spasm. Recovery was not achieved even with cardiac massage, intravenous injection of epinephrine and atropine, and intravenous infusion of nitroglycerine. The patient eventually recovered through high-dose nicorandil intravenous infusion without ST elevation of his inferior leads. Therefore, intravenous infusion of a high dose of nicorandil must be considered a treatment option for cardiac arrest caused by refractory coronary vasospasm.

• Korean Circulation Journal
• /
• v.53 no.8
• /
• pp.519-534
• /
• 2023

Anginal symptoms are frequently encountered in patients without the presence of significant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). It is increasingly recognized that vasomotor disorders, such as an abnormal vasodilatory capacity of the coronary microcirculation or coronary vasospasm, are the dominant pathophysiological substrate in these patients. Although the evidence with respect to angina in patients with non-obstructive coronary arteries is accumulating, the diagnosis and treatment of these patients remains challenging. In this review, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview regarding the pathophysiological origins of angina with non-obstructive coronary arteries disorders and its diagnostic and therapeutic considerations. Hereby, we provide a practical approach for the management of patents with angina and non-obstructive CAD.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.121-126
• /
• 2018

Coronary spasm generally occurs in patients with minimal atherosclerotic plaque lesion, and it has a rather favorable prognosis. However, in some cases, coronary spasm may induce myocardial infarction and even sudden cardiac death (SCD). Here, we report a case in which multi-vessel intractable coronary vasospasm suddenly occurred in a diffuse atherosclerotic lesion after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a patient with aborted SCD. We identified the characteristics of the spasm portion in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images and conducted percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass support-PCI with stenting as treatment. Intima and media thickening and a large attenuated plaque burden with rupture were identified in IVUS images at the obstructive spasm portion.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.120-123
• /
• 2013

The common causes of organic mitral regurgitation (MR) include mitral valve prolapse (MVP) syndrome, rheumatic heart disease, and endocarditis. MR also occurs secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease. In acute severe MR, the hemodynamic overload often cannot be tolerated, and mitral valve repair or replacement must be performed immediately. We report herein a case of severe MR due to coronary vasospasm that was confirmed via ergonovine echocardiography in a 70-year-old man. He was scheduled to undergo mitral valve surgery, but it did not push through and he was put on medical therapy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.10
• /
• pp.701-703
• /
• 2007

Coronary artery vasospasm results in transient, abrupt chest pain that's due to the increased vasomotor tone of the coronary artery, and this can cause myocardial ischemia. We report here or one case of the right coronary artery vasospasm after aortic valve replacement surgery, and this was due to severe aortic regurgitation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.150-153
• /
• 2021

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is characterized by progressive steno-occlusive lesions of the distal or proximal branch of the internal carotid arteries, and cerebrovascular symptoms are its major complications. Extracranial vascular involvement including the coronary artery has been reported, and some case reports have described variant angina or myocardial infarction. However, no report has yet described a case of myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Here, we present a patient with MMD who suffered cardiac arrest caused by myocardial infarction due to a coronary spasm after offpump CABG and who was discharged successfully after treatment with a veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenator and percutaneous coronary intervention.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.288-291
• /
• 2011

Postoperative coronary arterial spasm is a rare but potentially fatal complication. A 51-year-old male patient with a history of a reactive ergonovine stress test coronary angiogram developed refractory coronary artery spasm after undergoing minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The patient was successfully managed with rapid implementation of intra-aortic balloon-pump counter pulsation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.58-61
• /
• 2017

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) has been widely used in the treatment of various solid tumors. However, 5-FU cardiotoxicity is being reported with increasing frequency. The main symptom of cardiotoxicity is chest pain at rest with ischemic electrocardiographic changes. Up until now, the underlying mechanism has been suspected to be coronary artery spasm. However, this chest pain associated with 5-FU has several characteristics that are incompatible with coronary artery spasm; eg, inefficacy of calcium-channel blocker and a slow increase in cardiac enzyme levels. We experienced a case of 5-FU-induced cardiotoxicity which showed clinical findings consistent with acute myocardial infarction. Based on the clinical findings, coronary angiography, and no stenosis was noted. However, we concluded that the cardiotoxicity in this case was due to ischemia caused by coronary artery spasm. Because vasodilatator was effective and secondary attack was followed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.1107-1117
• /
• 1990

The regulatory role of the post \ulcorner1-and \ulcorner2-adrenoceptors on cardiac function, particularly in coronary flow rate, was investigated in the isolated rat heart treated with 10-6 M propranolol. When introduced into the left atrium of the heart, phenylephrine[10-7-10-2 M] decreased coronary flow rate and increased mean coronary resistance in a dose related fashion, but did not affect heart rate. Methoxamine also elicited the increment of coronary resistance and the decrement of coronary flow rate, though the effects of methoxamine were weaker than those by phenylephrine. The effect of phenylephrine was inhibited by 1\ulcornerM prazosin and shifting the dose-response curve to the right. The effects of clonidine, a selective \ulcorner2-adrenoceptor agonist, were studied in the heart taken from reserpinized rats. Clonidine increased coronary resistance, decreased heart rate and coronary flow rate with a dose-dependent manner. These effects were abolished by 10-6 M yohimbine, a selective \ulcorner2-antagonist, and were not affected by 10-6M prazosin. Clonidine also decreased coronary flow and increased mean coronary resistance in electric paced heart. These effects were inhibited by rawoulscine, a selective ca-antagonist. These results indicate that the stimulation of both post \ulcorner1-and \ulcorner2-adrenoceptor causes coronary vasoconstiction. And it is inferred that this model of sympathomimetics-induced coronary vasospasm may provide a useful tool for investigating spasmolytic agents which are of benefit in the treatment of variant angina.