[Syndrome X and microvascular angina]

The term X syndrome is used to indicate a group of patients who present anginous symptoms and ischemic-type electrocardiographic alterations which appear during exercise tolerance tests, dipiridamol tests or Holter's dynamic monitoring where coronary ultrasonography reveals no evident coronary lesions, vasospastic angina, arterial hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus, block of the left branch when resting or exercising, cardiomyopathy or valvulopathy. The highest incidence is in females with a mean age of around 50. A reduced reserve of coronary flow, highlighted both in response to vasodilatators or rapid stimulation and by positron emission tomography (PET), underlies this syndrome. It is thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the coronary microcirculation which consists in a deficit of the endothelium-dependent vasodilatory mechanisms, probably also owing to the accumulation of vasoconstrictive type substances, like endothelin-1. In addition to a dysfunction of the coronary microcirculation, one widely backed hypothesis concerns the existence of an altered perception of painful symptoms in patients with X syndrome: the anomalous constriction of prearteries might cause an increased release of adenosine, able to provoke angina despite the scarce signs of myocardial ischemia in terms of the metabolic or functional profile. From a therapeutic point of view, treatment of these patients is often ineffective: treatment should be based on the use of nitrates, calcium-antagonists or beta-blockers, if necessary moving on to other forms of therapy (aceinhibitors, xanthine methylate, estrogens, alphablockers, imipramine); the simultaneous use of tranquillizers may be useful in view of the anxious personality often characteristic of these patients.