BACKGROUND The intracellular mechanism of coronary artery spasm is still unknown. The pathway mediated by protein kinase C (PKC) is an important intracellular process of various cellular responses, including vascular smooth muscle contraction. Thus, we examined the role of the PKC-mediated pathway in the pathogenesis of coronary artery spasm in our in vivo swine model. METHODS AND RESULTS Sev...

Effects of leukotriene (LT) C4 and LTD4 on coronary artery spasm in atherosclerotic miniature pigs were examined angiographically. Endothelial balloon denudation of the left circumflex coronary artery was performed in 15 Gottingen miniature pigs; 11 were fed a 2% cholesterol diet and four were fed a regular diet for 3 months. Three months after this denudation, the area of the coronary artery w...

STUDY OBJECTIVES This study was performed to compare the results of accelerated exercise following mild hyperventilation and a standard acetylcholine (ACh) test for the induction of coronary artery spasm in patients with drug-induced coronary artery spasm. METHODS AND RESULTS The subjects were 74 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery spasm who were examined using accelerate...

Coronary artery spasm was first proposed as a cause of spontaneous, recurring angina1 attacks over a century ago (1). Because this brilliant clinical intuition could not be demonstrated at postmortem study, it fell into progressive disrepute until, in the early 1950s coronary artery spasm was considered “the resort of the diagnostically destitute” (2). In 1959, the notion of coronary artery spa...

Introduction Recently, pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with cryoballoon (CB) has been widely accepted as treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). Especially, second-generation CB (Arctic Front Advance, Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) has a high cooling effect, which can achieve durable lesions of pulmonary vein (PV) antrum and better clinical outcomes. On the other hand, several complications, s...

PURPOSE We experienced 3 cases of serious perioperative coronary artery spasm in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB). In consideration of the causes, we directed our attention to hypomagnesemia, one of the triggers of coronary artery spasm. This study was performed to confirm the tendency to hypomagnesemia in OPCAB. METHODS First, we report 3 patients having severe coronary arter...

BACKGROUND Coronary artery spasm (CAS) is defined as a reversible, sudden epicardial coronary artery stenosis that causes vessel occlusion or near occlusion. CASE REPORT In this article, we present a clinical case of CAS in a 48-year-old woman undergoing elective aortic valve replacement surgery for aortic stenosis. On the 3rd post-operative day, the patient suffered from chest pain and dyspn...

Coronary artery spasm after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a rarephenomenon often resulting in heart failure. We report a case of 56-yearr-old male, who had coronary artery spasm after CABG, which was successfully treated with intracoronary injection of nitroglycerine and heparin.

This study sought to clarify the relationship between magnesium (Mg) deficiency and coronary artery spasm provoked by pharmacologic agents in patients with a recent acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Twenty-three consecutive patients suffering from AMI were investigated with a Mg retention test (Mg: 0.1 mmol/kg for 4 h) in both the acute phase (within I week (3+/-2 days) of onset) and the subac...