title: Perivascular nerve lesion of the coronary artery involved in spasm in a patient with variant angina.
abstract: An autopsy case of a 52-year-old man with typical variant angina is reported. He had recurrent attacks of chest pain at rest, particularly from midnight to early morning, associated with ST segment elevation in the electrocardiogram. At autopsy, degenerative changes and fibrosis were confirmed light microscopically in the perivascular nerves of the coronary artery involved in spasm. This finding indicates an intimate relationship between coronary spasm and the autonomic nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jougasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasue
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000788:Angina Pectoris, Variant / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003329:Coronary Vasospasm / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009420:Nervous System / Q000473:pathology*