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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Intracoronary Acetylcholine Provocation Testing for Assessment of Coronary Vasomotor Disorders
Published on: August 18, 2016
[Case of undiagnosed vasospastic angina first noted during anesthesia]
Yuichi Hashimoto1, Yoshifumi Matsuda, Yoshiro Enomoto
1Department of Anesthesiology, Koshigaya Hospital, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Koshigaya 343-8555.
Abstract:
A 75-year-old man patient was scheduled for total gastrectomy, splenectomy, and cholecyctectomy who had been hypertensive. The patient had no symptoms related to cardiac disease before surgery. Preoperative ECG showed only complete right bundle branch block. After arriving in the operating room, epidural anesthesia was performed at the T8-9 inter space and general anesthesia was induced with propofol without difficulty. Before operation, suddenly PVCs appeared, followed by VT and VF. Immediately the patient was treated with defibrillation, nitroglycerin and nicorandil. The operation was canceled. Vasospastic angina was diagnosed by acetylcholine infusion test postoperatively. Most of patients with vasospastic angina show elevation of ST segment on ECG at first, but our case showed VT and VF without ST elevation on ECG.
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