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Postcoronary pain and the postmyocardial infarction syndrome
Insights
This study found no evidence of a mild form of Dressler's syndrome after myocardial infarction. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and antimyocardial antibodies showed no diagnostic value for this condition.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Immunology
Background:
- Non-specific chest pain is common after myocardial infarction.
- This pain is sometimes attributed to a mild form of Dressler's syndrome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence of a mild form of Dressler's syndrome in patients post-myocardial infarction.
- To assess the diagnostic value of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and antimyocardial antibodies.
Main Methods:
- Studied 80 patients with confirmed myocardial infarction.
- Assessed clinical features, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, and antimyocardial antibody levels.
Main Results:
- Two patients presented with classical Dressler's syndrome.
- Twenty-three patients had non-specific chest pain without Dressler's syndrome features.
- No significant differences in erythrocyte sedimentation rate or weakly positive antimyocardial antibodies were found between groups.
Conclusions:
- There is no evidence to support a mild form of Dressler's syndrome.
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and weakly positive antimyocardial antibodies lack diagnostic value for Dressler's syndrome.
Abstract:
Since non-specific chest pain, which is a common feature after myocardial infarction, may be due to a mild form of Dressler's (postmyocardial infarction) syndrome 80 patients were studied after confirmed myocardial infarction. Two patients had clinical features of classical Dressler's syndrome with high erythrocyte sedimentation rates and strongly positive results for antimyocardial antibodies. Twenty three patients had non-specific chest pain; none had clinical features of Dressler's syndrome. There was no difference in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate between this group and the remainder who had no pain. Equal numbers in each group had weakly positive test results for antimyocardial antibodies; none had a strongly positive result. Thus there appears to be no evidence for a mild form of Dressler's syndrome, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and weakly positive results for antimyocardial antibodies are of no diagnostic value in Dressler's syndrome.