[A case of stable microvascular angina with normal coronary arteries: certainties and doubts]

Myocardial ischemia is caused in most cases by the obstruction of epicardial coronary vessels. Several studies, however, have shown that abnormalities in the coronary microcirculation can also contribute to myocardial ischemia. Microvascular dysfuntion is defined as primary microvascular angina (MVA) to distinguish it from other forms of secondary microvascular angina due to such diseases as arterial hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial disease, metabolic syndrome and collagen diseases. We present the case report of a 48-year-old male patient who coronarographically showed coronary slow flow with delayed distal vessel opacification in the absence of coronary stenosis. Whilst this phenomenon is still not completely understood, strong evidence suggests that the primary alteration is caused by a dysfunction of small coronary vessels.