One hundred and eighty-seven consecutive patients with vasospastic angina and coronary spasm provoked by intracoronary injection of acetylcholine and/or ergonovine were treated from January 1991 to June 1997. Fifteen of these patients, 14 men and one woman (mean age of 63 years old), had a history of syncope. There were no significant differences in the distribution of induced spasm vessels, single spasm vs multiple spasms, variant angina pectoris and organic stenosis (< 75%) between patients with and without a history of syncope. There were no significant differences concerning the distribution of the sites of induced spasm in the circumflex artery and left anterior descending artery between the two groups. However, coronary spasm in the proximal portion of the right coronary artery (segment 1 or 2 according to the functional classification of American Heart Association) occurred more frequently in patients with a history of syncope [80.0% (12/15) vs 45.3% (78/172); p < 0.05]. Twelve of the 96 patients with coronary spasm in the proximal portion of the right coronary artery had a history of syncope, so these patients require careful management.
Acetylcholine Angina Pectoris