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Clinical implications of arterial hypertension in patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection
Fernando Alfonso1, Marcos García-Guimaraes2,3, Teresa Alvarado1
1Cardiac Department, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, IIS-IP, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, CIBERCV, Madrid.
Insights
Patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and hypertension are older with more risk factors. Hypertension in SCAD patients is linked to poorer revascularization outcomes and increased procedural complications.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Vascular Medicine
- Interventional Cardiology
Background:
- Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndrome.
- While SCAD patients often have risk factors, the impact of arterial hypertension is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical implications of arterial hypertension in patients diagnosed with SCAD.
- To assess how hypertension influences the characteristics and outcomes of SCAD.
Main Methods:
- The study utilized data from the Spanish SCAD registry (NCT03607981), prospectively enrolling 318 patients.
- Patients were categorized based on the presence or absence of arterial hypertension, with SCAD diagnosis confirmed via central angiogram analysis.
Main Results:
- Hypertensive SCAD patients were older, more likely to have dyslipidemia and diabetes, and less likely to smoke compared to normotensive patients.
- Hypertension was associated with more severe coronary lesions, higher rates of multivessel involvement and ectasia, and significantly lower procedural success with increased complications during revascularization.
Conclusions:
- SCAD patients with hypertension represent an older demographic with a higher burden of cardiovascular risk factors.
- Arterial hypertension in SCAD is associated with adverse procedural outcomes and a greater risk of complications during revascularization procedures.
Background:
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare but increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndrome. Many patients with SCAD have associated coronary risk factors. However, the implications of arterial hypertension in SCAD patients remain unknown.
Objective:
This study sought to assess the clinical implications of arterial hypertension in a nationwide cohort of patients with SCAD.
Methods:
The Spanish SCAD registry (NCT03607981) prospectively enrolled 318 consecutive patients. All coronary angiograms were centrally analyzed to confirm the diagnosis of SCAD. Patients were classified according to the presence of arterial hypertension.
Results:
One-hundred eighteen patients (37%) had a diagnosis of arterial hypertension. Hypertensive SCAD patients were older (60 ± 12 vs. 51 ± 9 years old) and had more frequently dyslipidemia (56 vs. 23%) and diabetes (9 vs. 3%) but were less frequently smokers (15 vs. 35%) than normotensive SCAD patients (all P < 0.05). Most patients in both groups were female (90 vs. 87%, NS) and female patients with hypertension were more frequently postmenopausal (70 vs. 47%, P < 0.05). Hypertensive SCAD patients had more severe lesions and more frequently multivessel involvement (15 vs. 7%, P < 0.05) and coronary ectasia (19 vs. 7%, P < 0.05) but showed a similar prevalence of coronary tortuosity (34 vs. 26%, NS). Revascularization requirement was similar in both groups (17 vs. 26%, NS) but procedural success was significantly lower (65 vs. 88%, P < 0.05) and procedural-related complications more frequent (65 vs. 41%, P < 0.05) in SCAD patients with hypertension.
Conclusion:
Patients with SCAD and hypertension are older, more frequently postmenopausal and have more coronary risk factors than normotensive SCAD patients. During revascularization SCAD patients with hypertension obtain poorer results and have a higher risk of procedural-related complications (NCT03607981).
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