Prinzmetal's angina
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| Prinzmetal's angina Classification and external resources | |
| ICD-10 | I20.1 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 413.1 |
| DiseasesDB | 13727 |
| eMedicine | med/447 |
| MeSH | D000788 |
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Overview
Prinzmetal's angina, also known as variant angina or angina inversa, is a syndrome typically consisting of angina (cardiac chest pain) at rest that occurs in cycles. It is caused by vasospasm, a narrowing of the coronary arteries caused by contraction of the smooth muscle tissue in the vessel walls rather than directly by atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty plaque and hardening of the arteries).
Eponym
It was first described as A variant form in 1959 by the American cardiologist Dr. Myron Prinzmetal (1908-1987).[1]
Features
Symptoms typically occur at rest, rather than on exertion (thus attacks usually occur at night). Two-thirds of patients have concurrent atherosclerosis of a major coronary artery, but this is often mild or not in proportion to the degree of symptoms.
It is associated with specific EKG changes (elevation rather than depression of the ST segment).
Diagnosis
Patients who develop cardiac chest pain are generally treated empirically as an "acute coronary syndrome", and are generally tested for cardiac enzymes such as creatine kinase isoenzymes or troponin I or T. These may show a degree of positivity, as coronary spasm too can cause myocardial damage. Echocardiography or thallium scintigraphy is often performed.
The gold standard is coronary angiography with injection of provocative agents into the coronary artery. Rarely, an active spasm can be documented angiographically (e.g. if the patient receives an angiogram with intent of performing a primary coronary intervention with angioplasty). Depending on the local protocol, provocation testing may involve substances such as ergonovine, methylergonovine or acetylcholine. Exaggerated spasm is diagnostic of Prinzmetal angina.
EKG finding will more often show ST segment elevation than ST depression.
Treatment
Prinzmetal angina typically responds to nitrates and calcium channel blockers.
References
External links
- synd/3059 at Who Named It
- www.prinzmetal.dk A site about prinzmetal's variant angina and cardiac syndrome x
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .

