The spasm provocation test (SPT) is an important test in the diagnosis of vasospastic angina (VSA). In many cases, this test is performed as the gold standard test, and VSA is considered not present if the SPT is negative. However, some patients continue to experience chest symptoms despite a negative SPT. In this study, we report four cases in which SPT was repeated to evaluate chest symptoms ...

Variant angina is a form of angina pectoris that shows transient ST-segment elevation on electrocardiogram during an attack of chest pain. Ischemic episodes of variant angina show circadian variation and often occur at rest from midnight to early morning. Ischemic episodes also occur during mild exercise in the early morning. However, they are not usually induced by strenuous exercise in the af...

Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Department of Medicine, SU/O} stra, Göteborg, Sweden; MRC Cyclotron Unit, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, U.K.; National Refractory Angina Centre, Liverpool, U.K.; Taunton and Somerset Hospital, Taunton, Somerset, U.K.; Afdeling Cardiologie, Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Department für Innere Medizi...

This editorial refers to ‘The clinical characteristics and investigations planned in patients with stable angina presenting to cardiologists in Europe: from the Euro Heart Survey of Stable Angina’ by C.A. Daly et al., on page 996 and ‘The initial management of stable angina in Europe, from the Euro Heart Survey. A description of pharmacological management and revascularization strategies initia...

We describe a case of Prinzmetal’s angina that is refractory to medical therapy but responded fully after percutaneous coronary intervention. This case shows that there is a role for percutaneous coronary intervention in refractory variant angina as long as a culprit lesion within the vasospastic segment can be identified.

This study investigated the incidence and risk factors of mortality in 2,476 patients with variant angina (VA) using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort between 2004 and 2011. The risk factors of all-cause and cardiac mortality were investigated using Cox proportional hazards model. Most patients (69.5%) were less than 65 years and 42.9% were women. During the median fo...

During 1944, we treated at the Carmichael Hospital for Tropical Diseases 14 patients suffering from tropical eosinophilia with organic arsenicals; of these nine were given intramuscular injections of acetylarsan at intervals of about five days, with satisfactory results, the course being uneventful except in one case which is reported here. This patient developed sensitiveness to the drug and p...

Variant angina, defined as spontaneous angina pectoris associated with transient ST-segment elevation, is usually caused by episodic coronary spasm. At present, coronary artery spasm is a reversible coronary stenosis that limits coronary blood flow under resting conditions. Prinzmetal first described this type of angina pectoris as a distinct entity in 1959. Although several hypotheses have bee...