[Clinical characteristics of patients with coronary spasm demonstrated angiographically]

We studied a group of 112 patients with angiographically documented coronary artery spasm (CAS). In 102 of them (91%) was methylergonovine-induced. Mean age was 51,25 +/- 8,5, ranging from 28 to 76 years. Only 6 were females. We analized the prevalence of coronary risk factors; among them, heavy smoking was prominent. Clinical manifestations were: angina at rest 62%, effort angina 9%, mixed angina 24%, acute myocardial infarction 2%, asymptomatic with previous infarction 3%. Basal ECG was not a useful diagnostic tool, because in more than 50% of patients it was normal. Conversely, ECG during chest pain episodes was very useful, because only in 9% of patients it showed no changes. The most frequent alteration was ST segment elevation, observed in 53% of cases. Arrythmias during angina episodes were documented in 25% of cases. Stress test was negative in 50% of patients. Moreover, ST-segment depression was observed in 34% of patients.