Coronary spasm

  : : Hello. I am a 44 year old female who is in good shape and who has virtually no risk
  : : factors for heart disease. I have no other medical problems and never have. This past
  : : weekend I had a mild heart attack. After many tests and an angiogram, it was concluded
  : : that one of my coronary arteries had gone into a spasm for unknown reasons. The doctor
  : : said he hoped that his arteries looked as good as mine did on the angiogram. Luckily, I
  : : had gotten to the hospital in time so that the damage to my heart was minimal and I should
  : : make a complete recovery. My doctor put me on two medications, Metoprolol XL and
  : : Amlodipine as well as an aspirin once a day. The only possible explanation for the episode
  : : is that my iron level was low at 10 but I was told that may have nothing to do with it
  : : either.  I also now take iron to boost that level. In your opinion, what are my chances of
  : : having another attack of this sort and will I have to be on these medications for the rest of
  : : my life? When I asked my doctor those two questions he really didn

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

_

Dear Wendy
Coronary artery spasm can be diagnosed on a coronary angiogram when a certain intravenous medication which provokes spasm is given during a cardiac catheterization. This test, which was developed years ago at the Cleveland Clinic, is performed only at specialized centers. If your EKG really was abnormal when you presented to the ER, you may in fact have coronary artery spasm and you may benefit from this test.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.