Clinical Characteristics and Follow-up in Patients With Microvascular Angina.

Are Low Total Serum Antioxidant Status and Elevated Levels of C-Reactive Protein and Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 Associated With Cardiac Syndrome X?

“…5 In the results of that study, as in ours, none of the patients died as the result of cardiac events, nor did any patient suffer from myocardial infarction. Chest pain persisted in 35.3% of the patients and in many of the patients was relieved by the administration of cardiovascular medication.…”

“…4 Others have suggested that cardiac syndrome X is associated with a favorable prognosis, and that it tends to occur preferentially in postmenopausal women. 5 Several causes and mechanisms have been previously proposed to explain both the chest pain and the ischemic ST segment depression. Arteriosclerosis of the small coronary arteries may be the principal cause of cardiac syndrome X. Microvascular dysfunction, which is also observed in cases of cardiac syndrome X, is associated with proinflammatory cytokine or oxidative stress.…”

Final Myocardial Blush Grade Predicts Troponin I Elevation in Unstable Angina Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Intervention

“…We hypothesise that one possible explanation for this finding relates to the contribution of microvascular ischaemia to symptoms of angina. 23 Recurrent symptoms resulting in repeat angiography may have related primarily to the contribution of microvascular ischaemia rather than any restenosis within the epicardial vessel of selected patients. Thus, patients with an intermediate severity (50-60%) restenotic lesion and microvascular ischaemia would be more likely to represent and thus undergo subsequent revascularisation compared to counterparts with a clinically silent intermediate grade restenotic lesion alone.…”

Effect of Exercise on Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Microvascular Angina

“…6 Independent of the mechanisms, we suggest that this peculiar behavior of platelet reactivity might play some protective role against stress-induced thrombotic events and therefore contribute to the low occurrence of major cardiovascular events in MVA patients. [3][4][5] In this study we also assessed whether MVA patients might have a favorable pattern of circulating EPC levels following exercise. Several previous studies have shown that endothelial function is impaired in MVA patients, and the abnormality may involve not only the coronary microcirculation, 19-21 but also large coronary and peripheral arteries.…”