We established the incidence of coronary artery spasm provoked by 0.4 mg of methergine in 1089 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography. The test was performed after routine coronary arteriography. Subjects included patients with angina, both typical and atypical, patients who had recently had myocardial infarction and patients with either valvular disease or congestive cardiomyopat...

and clinical illustrations. Am J Cardiol 90: 624, 1978 12. Guazzi M, Polese A, Fiorentini C, Magni F, Bartorelli C: Left ventricular performance and related haemodynamic changes in Prinzmetal's variant angina pectoris. Br Heart J 33: 84, 1971 13. Maseri A, Mimmo R, Chierchia S, Marchesi C, Pesola A, L'Abbate A: Coronary artery spasm as a cause of acute myocardial ischemia in man. Chest 68: 625,...

Variant angina pectoris (VAP) is a form of angina pectoris that shows transient ST-segment elevation on electrocardio-gram during an attack of chest pain and is caused by coronary artery spasm. Although the pathogenesis of coronary artery spasm has not been fully elucidated, endothelial dysfunction and enhanced vascular smooth muscle contractility play major roles in the pathogenesis of coronar...

We injected acetylcholine (ACh), the neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic nervous system, into the coronary arteries of 28 patients with variant angina. Injection of 10 to 80 gg ACh into the coronary artery responsible for the attack induced spasm together with chest pain and ST segment elevation or depression on the electrocardiogram in 30 of the 32 arteries of 25 of the 27 patients. The in...

Coronary spasm plays an important role in the pathogenesis of variant angina as well as ischaemic heart diseases. Treatment with vasodilators such as long-acting calcium channel blockers and long-acting nitrates is generally effective in preventing coronary spasm; however, in some patients coronary spasm is refractory to standard therapy. Because of endothelial dysfunction, hyper-reactivity of ...

The clinical occurrence of non-intervention-related vascular spasm following coronary stenting is rare. In the present study, 2 cases are reported. One patient developed continuous spasms in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX) arteries following LAD artery stenting. The second patient developed an intense spasm in the right coronary artery (RCA) ...

Coronary artery spasm is sometimes an unrecognized cause of myocardial ischemia. Myocardial ischemia is not always a product of fixed stenosis; it can also be induced by dynamic, transient stenosis. The angiogram represents the current state of vasculature at the time of examination and absence of stenosis does not mean disease absence. We present a case of right coronary artery spasm that caus...