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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

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Published on: May 4, 2022
Positional changes leading to transient ischaemia in a patient with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung
James Livesay1, Hassan Tahir1, Raj Baljepally2
1Department of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Abstract:
Coronary spasm in carcinoid heart disease has an incidence of 10%, but is rare in patients with neuroendocrine tumours without carcinoid heart disease. We present a rare case of right coronary artery spasm and ST elevations secondary to a neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung, uniquely provoked by positional changes. Our patient is a 55-year-old man with recurrent ST-elevation myocardial infarction secondary to coronary vasospasm that was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung. We believe his positional coronary spasm episodes were likely due to intermittent tumour compression from changes in body position. Our case highlights positional coronary spasm as a previously unreported and potentially early manifestation of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung.

