1. Spontaneous pregnancy-associated coronary artery dissection: a case report on diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
- Author
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Haney AC, Siry D, Hoerbrand IA, Ehlermann P, and Beckendorf J
- Abstract
Background: One of the main causes of myocardial infarction during pregnancy is spontaneous coronary artery dissection. This is ascribed to hormonal changes during pregnancy leading to a weakening of the vessel wall and haemodynamic changes especially during childbirth. Management options include conservative medical treatment and percutaneous coronary intervention, depending on clinical presentation., Case Summary: A 37-year-old woman presented with typical chest pain six weeks after giving birth to her third child. Echocardiography revealed a moderate reduction in systolic function. Initial invasive coronary angiography showed no abnormalities. After cardiac magnetic resonance demonstrated extensive scar, invasive coronary angiography was repeated including intravascular imaging. A dissection of the left anterior descending artery was visualized and treated by percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting. Left ventricular function was normalized at three-month follow-up. In this educational case report, we highlight the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges when treating this special patient cohort and the importance of cardiovascular imaging., Discussion: Pregnancy-associated spontaneous coronary dissection is a potential differential diagnosis when treating post-partum women with recent onset chest pain. Management is challenging and intravascular imaging to visualize dissection should be performed during invasive coronary angiography. Patients require interdisciplinary care within a pregnancy heart team., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)
- Published
- 2024
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