Electrocardiographic changes with coronary artery spasm

The presence or absence of important ECG changes (e.g., ST elevation or depression greater than or equal to 1 mm) was evaluated in 79 consecutive patients with coronary artery spasm. In eight of these patients ECG changes usually did not accompany episodes of rest angina. Evaluation before, during, and after cardiac catheterization included multiple ECGs and ambulatory monitoring during angina. Our observations suggest that the ECG may not always be a sensitive indicator of coronary spasm. Thus the diagnosis of transient myocardial ischemia secondary to coronary spasm should not necessarily be excluded because of a lack of ECG changes during rest angina.