[Painless anterior acute myocardial infarction in a transplanted heart]

R Poyet1, E Capilla1, A V Tortat1

  • 1Service de cardiologie, hôpital d'instruction des armées Sainte-Anne, boulevard Sainte-Anne, 83000 Toulon, France.

Annales De Cardiologie Et D'Angeiologie
|October 17, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy, a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome after heart transplant, can present as myocardial infarction. Early intervention with percutaneous coronary intervention and drug-eluting stents can be effective.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Transplantation Immunology

Background:

  • Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) significantly impacts long-term survival post-heart transplantation.
  • Common clinical manifestations include heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death.

Observation:

  • Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is an uncommon presentation of CAV, often linked to myocardial denervation.
  • A 31-year-old patient, 6 months post-heart transplant, presented with syncope due to an anterior myocardial infarction.

Findings:

  • The patient experienced a painless myocardial infarction, a rare presentation of CAV.
  • Successful treatment was achieved through percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent implantation.

Implications:

  • This case highlights the importance of considering rare presentations of CAV in heart transplant recipients.
  • Timely PCI with drug-eluting stents offers a viable treatment option for myocardial infarction in this population.

Related Concept Videos