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Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
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Depression with panic episodes and coronary vasospasm
Mladen I Vidovich1, Aneet Ahluwalia, Radmila Manev
1Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 South Wood Street, MC 715, Suite 935, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Cardiovascular Psychiatry and Neurology
|December 24, 2009
Summary
Prinzmetal
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Variant angina, caused by coronary vasospasm, presents with chest pain and ST elevation.
- A patient with depression and panic attacks experienced recurrent chest pain.
Observation:
- A cardiac event monitor detected coronary vasospasm during anxiety-provoking chest pain.
- Coronary arteries appeared normal on angiography.
- Angina attacks increased after initiating Bupropion SR for depression.
Findings:
- Bupropion SR may negatively impact coronary vasospasm.
- Adjusting antidepressant therapy to exclude bupropion resolved symptoms.
Implications:
- Routine cardiac event monitoring in panic disorder patients may uncover more coronary vasospasm cases.
- This case highlights a potential link between bupropion and variant angina.
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