title: Structural and Functional Coronary Artery Abnormalities in Patients With Vasospastic Angina Pectoris.
abstract: Coronary spasm is involved in many clinical scenarios, such as stable angina, acute coronary syndrome, sudden cardiac death, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia and syncope. In recent years, imaging tools such as computerized tomographic angiography, intravascular ultrasound or optical coherence tomography have been applied to study the coronary pathology in patients with vasospastic angina. Patients with vasospastic angina represent a heterogeneous cohort of patients with regard to the extent of concomitant coronary atherosclerosis. They share the common pathophysiological phenomenon of vascular smooth muscle hyperreactivity leading to spasm caused by various factors that may also overlap. Focal coronary spasm is related to epicardial atherosclerosis and in the presence of obstructive coronary artery disease it may be useful to treat the lesion to prevent further spasm. The aim of this article is to review structural and functional coronary artery abnormalities in patients with vasospastic angina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Robert Bosch Krankenhaus.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Henrik Steen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Athanasiadis
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sechtem
mesh_terms: D000788:Angina Pectoris, Variant / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003329:Coronary Vasospasm / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress