Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of internal mammary arteries in patients with rest angina

Angioplasty of the internal mammary artery (IMA) bypass graft has been shown to be a safe and effective revascularization procedure. However, angiographic and long term clinical outcomes in the high-risk group of patients presenting with rest angina has not been well documented. We report the results of IMA angioplasty in 20 patients with rest angina out of 614 (3.2%) who received a left IMA graft at our institution between April 1987 and September 1994. All patients were admitted with rest angina, 12 patients demonstrated persistent ischemia despite medical therapy, two patients were in heart failure, and one patient was in cardiogenic shock. Balloon angioplasty was successful in 15 of 20 patients (75%). Failed angioplasty was associated with either severe IMA tortuousity (three patients) or inability to cross the anastomotic stenosis with the guide wire (two patients). Each of these five patients required angioplasty of either the native left anterior descending artery or other saphenous vein grafts for clinical stabilization. No patient suffered a major complication (myocardial infarction, emergent coronary bypass surgery, death). Clinical follow-up was obtained in all 20 patients (6 months, 7 years, mean 27 months). Twelve patients (60%) were asymptomatic or had stable angina at follow-up, and 8 returned with anginal symptoms. Four patients required repeat angioplasty for disease in other vessels, two were treated medically for angina, one underwent repeat CABG, and cardiac transplantation was performed in one patient for refractory heart failure. Angiographic follow up was obtained in 10/15 (66%) successful angioplasty patients, and only one patient demonstrated restenosis at the treated site (10%). During follow up one patient developed an IMA stenosis at a previous dissection site in the body of the graft that was treated with angioplasty. These results suggest that IMA angioplasty in patients with rest angina is associated with excellent long term patency and clinical efficacy, as well as low procedural risk.

Diagnosis of multivessel coronary vasospasm by detecting postischemic regional left ventricular delayed relaxation on echocardiography using color kinesis

BACKGROUND

It is not known whether multivessel coronary spasm occurs spontaneously in patients who have variant angina (VA) with demonstrated multivessel spasm induced by intracoronary injection of acetylcholine (ACh). Regional left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction or wall motion abnormality may persist after an episode of coronary vasospasm. Color kinesis (CK) is a recent development that facilitates the echocardiographic evaluation of regional diastolic wall motion.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Regional diastolic wall motion was evaluated using CK in 26 patients with VA within 1 week of the last episode of angina. The LV segmental filling fraction in the short-axis view during the first 30% of the diastolic filling time, expressed as a percentage, was used to objectively identify postischemic diastolic endocardial motion asynchrony. Diastolic asynchrony or regional LV delayed relaxation was noted in all 26 (100%) patients and in 14 (54%) it was detected in multiple vascular territories, suggesting multivessel spasm. Multivessel spasm was induced by ACh in 11 (79%) of the patients with suspected multivessel spasm by CK. In 11 (92%) of the 12 patients with multivessel spasm induced by ACh multiple regions of delayed relaxation had been noted by CK. The regions of delayed relaxation were largely consistent with the territories perfused by the arteries reacting to ACh (sensitivity: 96%, specificity: 91%).

CONCLUSION

ACh induced spasm in the same coronary arteries as those perfusing the regions with delayed diastolic wall motion detected by CK in most of the patients with VA, suggesting that multivessel spasm does occur spontaneously in patients with susceptible arteries.

Hyperventilation-echocardiography test for the diagnosis of myocardial ischaemia at rest

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, safety, specificity and sensitivity of the hyperventilation test performed under echocardiographic monitoring for the provocation of vasospastic ischaemia. Hyperventilation (approximately 30 cycles.min-1 for 5 min) was performed in 104 hospitalized patients, referred for pain typical of angina at rest, under 2-D echocardiographic and 12-lead electrocardiographic monitoring. All the tests were completed and no significant side effect was observed. In-hospital documentation of spontaneous myocardial ischaemia and/or ergonovine-induced ischaemia was achieved in 38 patients (group I). A positive hyperventilation-echocardiography test (occurrence of new transient asynergies or worsening of basal ones) was obtained in 32/38 patients. Among the group I patients, only 23 had diagnostic ST-T changes and only 16 experienced chest pain during the hyperventilation-echo test. Of the 66 patients without evidence of myocardial ischaemia at rest (negative ECG monitoring during hospitalization and/or negative ergonovine maleate-echo test)--Group II, none showed echocardiographic changes, seven presented ST-T changes and six complained of typical chest pain during the test. Thus, in relation to in-hospital documentation of myocardial ischaemia at rest, both spontaneous and/or ergonovine-induced episodes, the hyperventilation-echo test showed a specificity of 100%, a sensitivity of 84%, a positive predictive value of 100% and a negative predictive value of 92%. In conclusion, hyperventilation performed under echocardiographic monitoring is feasible and safe; it can be proposed as a screening test to unmask vasospastic myocardial ischaemia in patients with angina at rest, in whom documentation of spontaneous episodes is not available.

Variant angina induced by alcohol ingestion

A 49-year-old man had episodes of angina pectoris in the middle of the night only when he had ingested alcoholic beverage in the evening. Electrocardiograms at rest and after exercise were completely normal. An anginal attack with remarkable ST elevation in leads V1 through V5 was successfully provocated every night when he ingested alcohol and no attacks occurred when he did not take alcohol. The decay curve of ethanol concentration in blood after the ingestion of alcohol was normal. A coronary arteriography revealed 50% stenosis of the proximal portion of the left anterior descending artery, 50% stenosis of the distal portion of the left circumflex artery and the normal right coronary artery. It was suggested that the direct effect of ethanol was not responsible to his attack because the ethanol level at the time of the attack was quite low, but autonomic imbalances resulted from the late effects of alcohol ingestion might be responsible to the spasm of the coronary artery. We report a patient with Prinzmetal's variant angina in whom attacks were induced only in the night when he ingested alcoholic beverage. Only one report of such a case was bibliographically found and this is the second case with variant angina induced by alcohol ingestion.

Behavior of right and left ventricles during episodes of variant angina in relation to the site of coronary vasospasm

The effects of single-vessel coronary occlusion on simultaneously evaluated right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) performance were assessed and compared with LV perfusion patterns in 25 patients with variant angina. Coronary spasm involved the right coronary artery in 15 patients (group 1) and the left anterior descending coronary artery in 10 patients (group 2). Biventricular function was assessed by radionuclide angiography under basal conditions, during spontaneous or ergonovine-induced ischemia, and after resolution of the ischemic attack. Myocardial perfusion was assessed by thallium 201 scintigraphy in 21 patients of this series during superimposable ischemic episodes. In group 1, ischemia caused RV (14 of 15 patients) and LV (13 of 15 patients) regional dysfunction with significant reduction in RV and LV ejection fractions. The interventricular spetum was involved in six of 15 patients, causing a more pronounced LV impairment. In group 2, all patients showed septal dyssynergies associated with a reduction of LV ejection fraction; absent or trivial RV involvement was observed. In both groups, LV perfusion defects were present in all patients with LV wall motion abnormalities during ischemia, matching the site of regional dyssynergies. Thus, in a group of patients with variant angina and single-vessel disease, transient occlusion of the right coronary artery directly caused RV and LV impairment; in these patients, the extent of LV but not RV dysfunction appeared related to the presence of septal ischemia. Vasospasm of the left anterior descending coronary artery consistently caused LV dysfunction not associated with secondary effects on RV systolic function.

Doppler assessment of left ventricular filling pattern in silent ischemia in patients with Prinzmetal's angina

Spontaneous angina is an ideal condition in which to study left ventricular (LV) dysfunction induced by acute myocardial ischemia. In 6 patients with Prinzmetal's angina, LV diastolic function during 16 episodes of spontaneous angina was studied by simultaneous recordings of electrocardiographic (ECG), echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters. In particular, pulsed Doppler echocardiography measured peak velocity of early (E) and late (A) transmitral flow and E/A ratio, as indexes of relative early versus late LV filling. During the ischemic attacks, the time sequence of pulsed Doppler echocardiographic and ECG changes showed 3 distinct phases: (1) "waxing phase: transmitral flow changes with minimal ECG modifications (E/A = 0.85 +/- 0.1); (2) "steady" phase: maximal ECG changes (E/A = 0.9 +/- 0.1); and (3) "waning" phase: regression of the ECG changes (E/A = 1.26 +/- 0.15). In each phase, E/A ratio showed a significant difference from the baseline value (E/A = 1.17 +/- 0.2) as a result of changes in E, suggesting that myocardial ischemia affects mainly the early phase of diastole. In the waxing phase, LV diastolic dysfunction preceded systolic abnormalities, as documented by a significant reduction of E/A ratio in the absence of alterations in LV ejection fraction, as well as in systemic arterial and pulmonary wedge pressures. Finally, all the recorded parameters were consistent with LV "contractile rebound" occurring in the waning phase and affecting both diastole and systole.

Facilitation of coronary spasm by propranolol in Prinzmetal's angina: fact or unproven extrapolation?

BACKGROUND

Alpha-adrenergic activation enhances coronary vascular tone; beta-blockade leaves alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction unopposed. Whether beta-adrenergic blockade facilitates coronary spasm in patients with Prinzmetal's angina is unknown.

METHODS

Using quantitative angiography, we evaluated the response of normal and narrowed coronary arteries to intravenous propranolol, a cold pressor test (an alpha-stimulus), and the combination of the two in 15 patients with Prinzmetal's (group 1) and in 19 with classic (group 2) angina. From measurements of heart rate, systemic and pulmonary arterial pressures, and left and right ventricular ejection times, we derived the tension-time index per minute as a measure of the oxygen need (O2 demand) of the whole heart.

RESULTS

In group 1, cold invariably constricted normal and diseased vessels, and in two patients elicited spasm at sites of significant lesions; these changes did not correlate with those in O2 demand. In group 2, the vasomotor reaction of normal and narrowed vessels in response to cold correlated with the modifications in O2 demand. After propranolol administration, (1) in normal vessels in both groups, the baseline luminal diameter varied in parallel with the changes in myocardial O2 demand; (2) narrowings in group 1 patients invariably dilated and in group 2 the caliber varied according to changes in O2 demand; (3) during cold stimulation, luminal narrowing in group 1 varied in parallel with O2 demand, and, in group 2, vessels were uniformly constricted.

CONCLUSION

These results do not support the facilitation of coronary spasm by propranolol in Prinzmetal's angina and support the hypothesis that the contractility of coronary vessels in patients with this form of angina is different from that in the classic form.

Thallium-201 uptake in variant angina: probable demonstration of myocardial reactive hyperemia in man

Myocardial thallium scintigraphy was performed in four subjects with variant angina and in one subject with isolated, fixed coronary obstruction. Three subjects with variant angina had short episodes of ischemic ST-segment elevation that lasted 20--100 seconds. Thallium scintigrams demonstrated excess uptake in regions judged to be ischemic by angiographic and electrocardiographic criteria. Two subjects, one with variant angina and the other with a fixed coronary lesion, had prolonged episodes of ischemia that lasted 390--900 seconds. Both had reduced thallium uptake in the ischemic regions. We conclude that myocardial reactive hyperemia is the cause of excess thallium uptake in patients with variant angina who have short episodes of myocardial ischemia.

Circulating T-lymphocyte activation in patients with variant angina

BACKGROUND

Both experimental and pathological studies suggest that immune response and inflammation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary spasm.

DESIGN

To elucidate the role of systemic immune and inflammatory responses in the pathogenesis of coronary spasm, we studied circulating T-lymphocyte activation in variant angina patients (VAPs), stable effort angina patients (EAPs) and in control participants.

METHODS

Twenty documented VAPs, 13 EAPs and 20 control participants were studied. To evaluate T-lymphocyte activation, T-lymphocyte surface antigen expression, including CD3, CD4, CD8 and HLA-DR, was measured by two-colour flow cytometric analysis. Serum-soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were also measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We restudied 10 of the VAPs to investigate the relationship between the disease activity of variant angina and T-lymphocyte activation.

RESULTS

The percentage of CD3+/DR+ T-lymphocytes in VAPs (14.8%) was significantly higher than in EAPs (10.7%, P < 0.05) and control participants (9.7%, P < 0.005); however, levels of sIL-2R were the same among the three groups. Levels of CRP were within normal range in all VAPs. The percentage of CD8+/DR+ T-lymphocytes was significantly higher in VAPs (9.5%, P < 0.005) than in EAPs (5.5%) and control participants (5.9%), whereas the percentage of CD4+/DR+ T-lymphocytes was similar among the three groups. The percentage of activated T-lymphocytes in VAPs was unchanged during the follow-up period (mean intervals, 10 months).

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that the chronic activation of T-lymphocytes, especially CD8+ T-lymphocytes, may be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary spasm.

Endothelial dysfunction in the absence of coronary atheroma causing Prinzmetal's angina

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Three cases of vasospastic angina that developed following the initiation of corticosteroid therapy

Three patients diagnosed as having remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema syndrome, pemphigus erythematosus and idiopathic interstitial pneumonia were treated with oral prednisolone. Several weeks after starting the treatment, they experienced repeated chest pain attacks between midnight and early morning, although none of the patients had a past history of ischemic heart disease. One of the patients exhibited aggravation of symptoms soon after increasing the dose of prednisolone. A definitive diagnosis of vasospastic angina was made using electrocardiograms, coronary angiography and vasospasm provocation tests. These cases emphasize that clinicians should be aware of the possible occurrence of vasospastic angina following the initiation of corticosteroid therapy.

Experience with ergonovine provocative testing for coronary arterial spasm

We reviewed our experience with the ergonovine provocative test for coronary arterial spasm in 40 patients with pain in the chest believed to be angina pectoris and in one patient with a myocardial infarction and normal coronary arteries. Twenty-nine patients had normal coronary arteries, while 12 had mild to moderate lesions. Ergonovine maleate was administered incrementally in total cumulative doses of 0.25 mg to 1.2 mg. The effect of ergonovine on coronary arterial caliber was determined by comparing the arterial diameter from the angiogram obtained after administration of ergonovine with that from the control. Measurements were made at the same preselected points in both films and also at points of greatest response. Excluding the three cases with complete occlusion, the mean reduction in coronary arterial diameter at preselected points was 12 +/- 15 percent. When the points of greatest response were examined, the maximum reduction in coronary arterial diameter was less than 25 percent in 13 patients, 25 to 50 percent in 20 patients, and more than 50 percent in eight patients. The patterns of response included complete occlusion of a vessel in the three patients with variant angina, diffuse narrowing in 16, diffuse and focal narrowing in six, and spasm at the catheter tip in three patients. All patients with maximum reductions of more than 50 percent in coronary arterial diameter and six of those with maximum reductions of 25 to 50 percent had pain in the chest, but only the three with complete occlusion had associated changes in the S-T segment. Thus, the response in patients with variant angina represents one end of a spectrum of responses to administration of ergonovine. In addition, a large number of patients may have ergonovine-induced pain in the chest without electrocardiographic changes and only an intermediate degree of coronary arterial spasm.

[Non-invasive method for recognition of coronary artery spasm: 201thallium sequential scintigraphy of the myocardium after ergotamine provocation (author's transl)]

For evaluation of coronary artery spasm 201thallium sequential scintigraphy of the myocardium after ergotamine provocation was performed in 10 patients with recurrent angina pectoris at rest and normal exercise ECG. In 9 out of the 10 patients ergotamine administration in the same dosage was repeated during the coronary angiography. A reversible defect in the 201thallium scintigram representative of regional myocardial ischaemia developed in 9 patients after ergotamine. Only in 4 out of the 9 patients angina pectoris and ST elevation were present at the same time. In all cases coronary spasm after ergotamine was demonstrable in the coronary angiogram; in the 4 patients with ergotamine-induced Prinzmetal angina pectoris it consisted of complete vascular occlusion, in the asymptomatic patients of incomplete vascular narrowing of a higher degree. In all cases the spasm could be relieved by ergotamine antidotes within a few minutes.

Combined cardiac cinefluoroscopy, exercise testing and ambulatory ST-segment monitoring in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease; a report of 104 symptomatic patients

To enhance diagnostic accuracy in coronary artery disease, cardiac cinefluoroscopy for the detection of coronary artery calcification was combined with exercise test and ambulatory ST-segment monitoring in 104 symptomatic patients before they underwent coronary angiography. In 44 patients with typical angina the combination of the three noninvasive tests and the exercise test alone both detected 92% of subjects with clinically important coronary artery disease. In 60 patients with atypical angina, the combination of the three noninvasive tests screened 77% of the subjects with clinically important coronary artery disease versus 43% after exercise test only (P less than 0.001). The exercise electrocardiogram was false negative in a substantial number of patients with atypical angina due to the presence of a good coronary reserve or to a daily circadian variation in the tone of the coronary arteries. Under these circumstances, cardiac cinefluoroscopy gave additional anatomic information to the physiological assessment of ischemia provided by the exercise test and ambulatory ST-segment monitoring. Our study suggests that the combination of cardiac cinefluoroscopy with other noninvasive tests may be particularly useful in screening atypically symptomatic populations.

On the clinical value of thallium-201 washout analysis in the detection of multiple jeopardized myocardial regions

In this study the relative importance of visual assessment and quantitative analysis myocardial stress perfusion scintigraphy in 72 patients with a 40% incidence of triple-vessel coronary disease was tested. The quantitative analysis of the uptake scintigram in combination with a washout rate study of thallium-201 was not superior to the visual analysis with regard to the overall detection of significant coronary disease (obstructions of at least 50%). The sensitivity of the quantitative analysis was 0.85 for the entire population and 0.90 for the triple-vessel disease group (specificity 0.90). Detection of jeopardized myocardial flow regions in patients with triple-vessel disease, however, resulted in a significantly better identification by quantitative analysis. Of the 87 jeopardized flow regions in the 29 patients with triple-vessel disease, 62 regions were detected by the quantitative analysis whereas 48 regions were noted by the visual evaluation. The post-test likelihood of this regional quantitative analysis with respect to the triple-vessel disease was 66%. The incidence of global ischemia as detected by washout abnormalities in cases with no or a maximum of one regional uptake defect was 7%.

Variant angina is not associated with angiotensin I converting enzyme gene polymorphism but rather with smoking

BACKGROUND

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) perhaps plays roles in regulating coronary vasomotor tone by producing angiotensin II and degrading bradykinin.

OBJECTIVES

We sought to investigate the role of ACE gene polymorphism in the pathogenesis of variant angina and to compare it with that of other clinical risk factors for male patients with variant angina and age-matched and sex-matched control subjects.

METHODS

We studied 78 male patients with variant angina who exhibited spontaneous or provoked coronary spasms during coronary angiography and compared prevalences of ACE gene genotype (deletion D and insertion I) and other risk factors between this group of patients with variant angina and age-matched and sex-matched control subjects whose angiograms were normal and in whom the ergonovine test did not cause spasms (n = 80).

RESULTS

Smokers were more prevalent in the group of patients with variant angina (P < 0.05). Genotype and allele prevalences of the group of patients with variant angina (0.14, 0.53 and 0.33 for DD, DI and II and 0.41 and 0.59 for D and I, respectively) were no different from those of the control group (0.16, 0.49 and 0.35 for DD, DI and II and 0.40 and 0.60 for D and I). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that smoking was a significant risk factor for variant angina (odds ratio 2.61, 95% confidence interval 1.03-6.66) whereas ACE genotype was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Variant angina is associated with an environmental factor, such as smoking, rather than a genetic factor, such as ACE gene polymorphism.

Nifedipine and angina pectoris. Short-term changes in quantitative coronary angiography with nifedipine and clinical response to treatment in effort-induced, mixed, and spontaneous angina pectoris

Changes induced by nifedipine (10 mg sublingually) in the residual luminal diameter of significant (greater than 50 percent) coronary lesions were assessed angiographically in 69 patients with effort-induced angina (group 1), in 22 patients with mixed angina (group 2), and in 14 patients with Prinzmetal's angina (group 3). These changes were related to the clinical response to treatment with the same drug, as evaluated through diary records and Holter monitoring in the mixed (spontaneous component) and Prinzmetal forms and through exercise testing in effort-induced and mixed (effort-associated component) angina. In groups 1 and 2, segments of stenotic vessels showed either an increase or decrease or no change in diameter with the calcium antagonist; in group 3, the majority of the lesions had compliant portions which invariably responded with dilatation. Nifedipine failed to improve cases with exertional (20 percent [14/69] unchanged; 19 percent [13/69] worsened) and mixed (41 percent [9/22] exacerbated) forms; 100 percent of the 14 patients with the Prinzmetal form had relief of the anginal episodes. In group 1, the response to exercise tests was dissociated from the short-term vasomotor pattern, and the pressure-rate product failed to explain the clinical results. Forty-five percent (ten) of the patients in group 2 showed significant short-term widening of critical stenoses, as well as obvious improvement; patients who did worse with treatment in this group had reacted to nifedipine with narrowing of critical stenoses. These data suggest that the response to nifedipine of classic effort-induced angina is probably the net result of an interaction of changes in myocardial oxygen consumption and supply; coronary vasomotion has a role in mixed angina, and influences of nifedipine may be either favorable or unfavorable; stenotic lesions in the Prinzmetal form are quite sensitive to the relaxant action of calcium blockade, and this probably represents a background to the highly positive clinical response to treatment.

A case of congenital bilateral coronary-to-right ventricle fistula coexisting with variant angina

A coronary arteriovenous (AV) fistula consists of a communication between a coronary artery and a cardiac chamber, a great artery or the vena cava. It is the most common anomaly that can affect coronary perfusion. Yet bilateral involvement of a coronary fistula, constitutes an uncommon subgroup of coronary AV fistulas. We herein report on a case of bilateral coronary AV fistula that was coexistent with variant angina originating from the distal right ventricular branch of the right coronary artery and the distal septal branch of the left anterior descending artery, and the latter drained into the right ventricle.

Temporal variability and correlation with geometric parameters in vasospastic angina: a quantitative angiographic study

Long-term changes in vasocontractility were examined in 23 coronary segments from 20 patients with variant angina using computer-based quantitative coronary angiography and ergonovine provocation tests repeated at an interval of 42 +/- 14 months. Measurements of vasospasticity at the sites of fixed stenoses were compared with values predicted by an elementary geometric theory based on the assumption that the cross-sectional area of a vessel wall is constant regardless of its state of vasoconstriction. While all patients were symptomatic initially, only 11 remained symptomatic at follow-up. At the initial provocation test, the response was correctly predicted in four segments, was lower than expected in one, and was stronger in 18. At follow-up, only one of the four segments in which the response had been initially predicted correctly again showed the predicted response and the remaining three showed a response weaker than expected; the one segment which was initially hypocontractile remained hypocontractile at follow-up; and of the 18 segments which were initially hypercontractile, 12 exhibited hypercontractility again, four had the predicted value and the remaining two showed hypocontractility. In only one of 23 segments did the geometric theory predict the behaviour of vasospasticity at the site of fixed stenosis on both tests. Vasospastic responsiveness is a dynamic process demonstrating temporal variability and is not directly predicted by geometric theory.

Influence of exercise-induced coronary artery spasm on thallium-201 initial distribution and washout kinetics in patients with variant and classic angina pectoris

Thallium-201 single-photon emission computed tomography was performed immediately, and 2 and 4 hours after exercise-induced anginal attack in 2 groups of patients with either exercise-induced coronary spasm or severe fixed stenosis on the isolated proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. All patients with variant angina had transient ST-segment elevation during the exercise-induced attack for thallium-201 scintigraphic study. Both perfusion defects and 4-hour washout abnormalities were significantly greater in patients with variant angina than in those with stable effort angina (p < 0.01). In patients with stable effort angina, thallium-201 activity in ischemic regions (as a percentage of initial count in the normal region) progressively decreased, whereas in patients with variant angina it increased from 38% (initial) to 48% (2 hours), and then declined to 42% (4 hours). The initial normalized thallium-201 activity in the ischemic regions was significantly lower in patients with variant angina than in those with stable effort angina (p < 0.001). In conclusion, perfusion and washout abnormalities during exercise-induced angina are greater in patients with variant angina than in those with stable effort angina. Exercise-induced coronary spasm seems to contribute to the profound reduction in initial thallium-201 distribution and delayed thallium-201 accumulation in the ischemic region.